II 
Calendar No. 744 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6074 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 21, 2008 
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and 
exporting cartels illegal and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gas Price Relief for 
Consumers Act of 2008’’. 
TITLE I—AMENDMENT TO 
SHERMAN ACT 
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘No Oil Producing and 
Exporting Cartels Act of 2008’’ or ‘‘NOPEC’’. 
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SEC. 102. SHERMAN ACT. 
The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended 
by adding after section 7 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 7A. (a) 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 com-
bination 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 co-
operation 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) A foreign state engaged in conduct in violation 
of subsection (a) shall not be immune under the doctrine 
of sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction or judgments 
of the courts of the United States in any action brought 
to enforce this section. 
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‘‘(c) No court of the United States shall decline, 
based on the act of state doctrine, to make a determina-
tion on the merits in an action brought under this section. 
‘‘(d) The Attorney General of the United States may 
bring an action to enforce this section in any district court 
of the United States as provided under the antitrust 
laws.’’. 
SEC. 103. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 
Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (6) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (7) by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) in which the action is brought under sec-
tion 7A of the Sherman Act.’’. 
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TITLE 
II—CREATION 
OF 
DE-
PARTMENT OF JUSTICE PE-
TROLEUM 
INDUSTRY 
ANTI-
TRUST TASK FORCE 
SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 
PETROLEUM 
INDUSTRY 
ANTITRUST 
TASK 
FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.—The Attor-
ney General shall establish in the Department of Justice 
a Petroleum Industry Antitrust Task Force (in this title 
referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF TASK FORCE.—The Task 
Force shall have the responsibility for— 
(1) developing, coordinating, and facilitating 
the implementation of the investigative and enforce-
ment policies of the Department of Justice related 
to petroleum industry antitrust issues under Federal 
law, 
(2) consulting with, and requesting assistance 
from, other Federal entities as may be appropriate, 
and 
(3) preparing and submitting to the Congress 
an annual report that— 
(A) describes all investigatory and enforce-
ment efforts of the Department of Justice re-
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lated to petroleum industry antitrust issues, 
and 
(B) addresses the issues described in sub-
section (c). 
(c) ISSUES TO BE EXAMINED BY TASK FORCE.—The 
Task Force shall examine all issues related to the applica-
tion of Federal antitrust laws to the market for petroleum 
and petroleum products, including the following: 
(1) The existence and effects of any price 
gouging in sales of gasoline. 
(2) The existence and effects of any inter-
national oil cartels. 
(3) The existence and effects of any collusive 
behavior in controlling or restricting petroleum refin-
ery capacity. 
(4) The existence and effects of any anti-
competitive price discrimination by petroleum refin-
ers or other wholesalers of gasoline to retail sellers 
of gasoline. 
(5) The existence and effects of any unilateral 
actions, by refiners or other wholesalers of petroleum 
products, in the nature of withholding supply or oth-
erwise refusing to sell petroleum products in order 
to inflate the price of such products above competi-
tive levels. 
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(6) The existence and effects of any anti-
competitive manipulation in futures markets or other 
trading exchanges relating to petroleum or petro-
leum products. 
(7) The existence and effects of any other anti-
competitive market manipulation activities involving 
petroleum or petroleum products. 
(8) Any other anticompetitive behavior that im-
pacts the price or supply of petroleum or petroleum 
products. 
(9) The advisability of revising the merger 
guidelines to appropriately take into account par-
ticular aspects of the petroleum and petroleum prod-
ucts marketplace. 
(10) The advisability of amending the antitrust 
laws in light of any competitive problems in the pe-
troleum and petroleum products marketplace de-
scribed in paragraphs (1)–(8) that cannot currently 
be effectively addressed under such laws. 
(d) DIRECTOR OF TASK FORCE.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall appoint a director to head the Task Force. 
(e) INITIAL REPORT.—The 1st report required by 
subsection (b)(2) shall be submitted to the Congress not 
later than December 31, 2008. 
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TITLE III—STUDY BY THE GOV-
ERNMENT 
ACCOUNTABILITY 
OFFICE 
SEC. 301. STUDY BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 
OFFICE. 
(a) STUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study evaluating the ef-
fects of mergers addressed in covered merger consent de-
crees on competition in the markets involved, including the 
effectiveness of divestitures required under those consent 
decrees in preserving competition in those markets. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
submit a report to Congress and the Department of Jus-
tice regarding the findings of the study conducted under 
subsection (b). 
(c) ATTORNEY GENERAL CONSIDERATION.—Upon 
receipt of the report described in subsection (b), the Attor-
ney General shall refer the report to the Task Force estab-
lished under section 201, which shall consider whether any 
further enforcement action is warranted to protect or re-
store competition in any market affected by a transaction 
to which any covered merger consent decree relates. 
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(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 
merger consent decree’’ means a consent decree entered 
in the 10-year period ending on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, in an enforcement action brought under sec-
tion 7 of the Clayton Act against a person engaged in the 
business of exploring for, producing, refining, processing, 
storing, distributing, or marketing petroleum or petroleum 
products. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 20, 2008. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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Calendar No. 744 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6074 
AN ACT 
To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing 
and exporting cartels illegal and for other purposes. 
MAY 21, 2008 
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:34 May 22, 2008
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