GT Newsletter | Competition Currents | September 2026

United States

A. U.S. Litigation

1. In re: Shale Oil Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:24-md-03119 (D.N.M.).

On Aug. 31, 2026, the court largely denied the defendant oil producers’ motion to dismiss claims alleging that they illegally fixed prices by reducing shale oil production. The defendants argued that the claims presented a nonjusticiable political question because they implicated OPEC and foreign policy issues. The court rejected that argument, holding that the “core question” was “whether domestic corporations and individuals conspired to coordinate production cuts.” The court also held that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged a conspiracy, explaining that “[a] conspiracy may be inferred from market conditions and defendants’ production decisions, communications, and public statements.” The court found that the plaintiffs—commercial and government consumers in this multidistrict litigation—identified “interactions that extend beyond the exchange of standard industry information