NOPEC

Subjects: Foreign Trade and International Finance, Competition and antitrust, Energy prices, Energy storage, supplies, demand, Government liability, Jurisdiction and venue, Oil and gas, Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status

Summary:  <p><b>No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2023 or NOPEC </b></p> <p>This bill prohibits a foreign state from engaging in collective action impacting the market, supply, price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product in the U.S. Specifically, a foreign state is prohibited from</p> <ul> <li>collective action that limits the production or distribution of such product, </li> <li>collective action to set or maintain the price of such product, or </li> <li>any other action that restrains trade of such product. </li> </ul> <p>Specified defenses such as sovereign immunity (i.e., a foreign state's immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts) and the act of state doctrine (i.e., the prohibition of a court invalidating an official act of a foreign sovereign performed within its own territory) shall not apply to a foreign state's violation of this bill.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 678 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 678

 To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                                illegal.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 7, 2023

  Mr. Grassley (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Durbin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                                illegal.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Oil Producing and Exporting 
Cartels Act of 2023'' or ``NOPEC''.

SEC. 2. SHERMAN ACT.

    The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended by adding after 
section 7 the following:

``SEC. 7A. OIL PRODUCING CARTELS.

    ``(a) In General.--It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act 
for any foreign state, or any instrumentality or agent of any foreign 
state, to act collectively or in combination with any other foreign 
state, any instrumentality or agent of any other foreign state, or any 
other person, whether by cartel or any other association or form of 
cooperation or joint action--
            ``(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil, 
        natural gas, or any other petroleum product;
            ``(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or 
        any petroleum product; or
            ``(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade 
        for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product,
when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct, 
substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, 
price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product 
in the United States.
    ``(b) Inapplicability of Defenses.--No court of the United States 
shall decline, based on the act of state, foreign sovereign compulsion, 
or political question doctrine to make a determination on the merits in 
an action brought under this section.
    ``(c) Enforcement.--The Attorney General of the United States shall 
have the sole authority to bring an action to enforce this section. Any 
such action shall be brought in any district court of the United States 
as provided under the antitrust laws.''.

SEC. 3. NO SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY IN OIL CARTEL CASES.

    Title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 1605(a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ``or'' after the 
                semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) in which the action is brought under section 7A of 
        the Sherman Act.''; and
            (2) in section 1610(a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (7) by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``, or''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) the judgment relates to a claim that is brought under 
        section 7A of the Sherman Act.''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act (or of an amendment made by this Act) 
is held invalid, the remainder of this Act (or of the amendment) shall 
not be affected thereby.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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