OPEC members to discuss US bill against organization

The OPEC leadership on April 21 intends to discuss the US bill with a number of OPEC+ members allowing lawsuits against cartel members, as possible lawsuits could disrupt the stability in the oil market, a source in one of the OPEC+ delegations told RIA Novosti, Report informs.

The US House Judiciary Committee on April 20 approved a law allowing antitrust lawsuits against OPEC member countries in the US, now the bill has to be considered by the full composition of the House of Representatives.

“On April 21, it is expected that the OPEC leadership will discuss this bill, as well as possible risks with the members of the format. Of course, these risks can disrupt stability in the oil market in such a fragile period,” the source noted.

Answering the question of whether the OPEC+ participants were informed about the positions of Saudi Arabia and Russia on this matter, the source noted that the positions of Riyadh and Moscow have not yet been made public.

"No, we do not know about the positions. But unofficial contacts are possible, reconciliation of watches, as it happens on a regular basis," he said.

The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill, as explained on the chamber's legal committee website, gives the US Department of Justice the authority to initiate antitrust claims against OPEC member countries and gives American courts the power to try such cases. The authors of the bill note that “the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, is an international cartel whose members deliberately collude to limit crude oil production as a means of fixing prices, unfairly driving up the price of crude oil to satisfy the greed of oil producers.”