Senate OKs plan to sue OPEC for price-fixing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a plan that would enable the federal government to sue OPEC for price manipulation, but the White House has threatened to veto the measure and opponents warned OPEC members could retaliate by turning off the taps.

The bill, sponsored by Democrat Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, would revoke the sovereign immunity members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries enjoy from U.S. legal action. It would allow the Justice Department to sue OPEC nations in U.S. courts.


The Senate voted 70-23 to attach the proposal to energy legislation the chamber is expected to vote on by the end of the week. The body had approved a similar measure in 2005 but it was dropped before the bill was finalized.

The House of Representatives last month voted 345-72 to approve the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007,” or “NOPEC.” The White House has threatened to veto the measure, and even if it became law, the Bush administration’s Justice Department would have to initiate any lawsuit.

Reuters