IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 500 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in opposition to efforts 

by major natural gas exporting countries to establish a cartel or other 

mechanism to manipulate the supply of natural gas to the world market 

for the purpose of setting an arbitrary and nonmarket price or as 

an instrument of political pressure. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2007 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MACK, 

Mr. CHABOT, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, 

Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Mr. ROYCE, and Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in 

opposition to efforts by major natural gas exporting 

countries to establish a cartel or other mechanism to 

manipulate the supply of natural gas to the world market 

for the purpose of setting an arbitrary and nonmarket 

price or as an instrument of political pressure. 

Whereas the United States currently is largely self-sufficient 

in natural gas but is projected to greatly increase its 

usage over time, which could create a growing dependence on world supply; 

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Whereas the cost of natural gas has approximately tripled 

since 2000 and has had a significant negative impact on 

United States manufacturers and on employment in manufacturing; 

Whereas in 2004 alone the rising cost of natural gas was responsible for the closure of scores of chemical companies 

in the United States and the loss of over 100,000 jobs; 

Whereas chemicals, plastics, and advanced composite materials are used extensively for military and commercial applications and are crucial components of the United 

States defense industrial base, which is the foundation of 

United States national security; 

Whereas Europe, as well as Japan, South Korea, and other 

United States allies, are heavily dependent on imported 

natural gas, and countries such as China and India are 

rapidly increasing their reliance on foreign suppliers; 

Whereas the supply of natural gas is controlled by a relatively 

small number of countries, including Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Algeria, and Qatar, among others; 

Whereas these and other countries have established an organization known as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum 

(GECF) to promote coordination on policies regarding 

natural gas; 

Whereas the members of the GECF are estimated to possess 

over 70 percent of global gas reserves and over 40 percent of global production; 

Whereas several of these countries have governments hostile 

to the United States; 

Whereas on January 29, 2007, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei proposed that Russia and Iran cooperate 

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to establish a cartel for natural gas, which has been 

termed a ‘‘gas OPEC’’; 

Whereas Russian President Putin has expressed great interest in the formation of a cartel of this type; 

Whereas Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has declared his 

strong support for the proposed cartel and described it as 

an expansion of his efforts to establish a similar cartel 

in the Western Hemisphere; 

Whereas Iranian officials have made clear their interest in 

using this ‘‘gas OPEC’’ as an instrument for political 

purposes; 

Whereas Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness 

to use its role as supplier of oil and gas to exert political 

pressure on other countries, such as Georgia, Ukraine, 

and Belarus, among others; 

Whereas Europe currently relies on Russia for almost half of 

its imports of natural gas and is likely to increase its dependence on this source over the next decade; 

Whereas North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials have 

warned of the danger of Europe’s increasing dependence 

on Russian energy and of the prospect of alternative suppliers, such as Algeria, cooperating with Russia; 

Whereas at the GECF meeting in Doha on April 9, 2007, of 

senior officials from Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Algeria, Qatar, and other countries, an agreement was 

reached to establish a committee chaired by the Russian 

Government to study proposals for greater coordination 

of policies, including pricing, that participants stated 

would be necessary for the creation of a cartel; and 

Whereas the creation of an international cartel for natural 

gas similar to that of the Organization of Petroleum Exmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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porting Countries (OPEC) would pose a major threat to 

the price and supply of energy, to the economy of the 

Unites States and of the world, and to their security: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the United States should make clear to the 

4 governments of major natural gas exporting coun5 tries that it regards efforts to establish a cartel or 

6 other mechanism to manipulate the supply of nat7 ural gas to the world market for the purpose of set8 ting an arbitrary and nonmarket price, or as an in9 strument of political pressure, to be an unfriendly 

10 act prejudicial to the security of the United States 

11 and of the world as a whole; 

12 (2) the United States should develop a joint 

13 strategy with its allies and all countries that are im14 porters of natural gas, as well as with cooperative 

15 exporting countries, to prevent the establishment of 

16 a cartel or other mechanism of this type, including 

17 by diversifying sources and alternative means of ac18 cess by exporters and importers to international 

19 markets, such as by pipeline; and 

20 (3) in order to mitigate potential economic and 

21 other threats to our security, the United States 

22 should work with our allies to reduce our dependence 

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1 on natural gas and to increase and promote the uti2 lization of clean energy sources. 

Æ 

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