Congressional judiciary committee leaders asked the antitrust chief of the US Department of Justice to weigh in on bills that would allow the agency to sue the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) over allegedly inflated oil prices.
In a letter to Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the lawmakers touted the bicameral, bipartisan support for the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, or NOPEC.
“The average US household spends over (US)$2,000 a year on gasoline. That might be one thing if fuel prices were set by the free market. Unfortunately, however, prices are heavily influenced by the coordinated efforts of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which controls 82% of the world’s proven oil reserves,” the lawmakers wrote. “We believe this legislation is consistent with the administration’s goals of ensuring a fair and competitive global marketplace.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R – IA) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R – VA) note that both President Trump and Delrahim have expressed concerns about OPEC’s anticompetitive behavior.
Full text of the letter follows:
August 20, 2018
The Honorable Makan Delrahim
Assistant Attorney General
Antitrust Division
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. Delrahim,
We seek your views on the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC).
NOPEC would explicitly autho
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