The congressman behind a bill that would allow the U.S. to sue OPEC for manipulating oil prices expects President Donald Trump to back the effort once it clears Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sense is that the administration is waiting to determine whether we can actually get it through both houses of Congress before they spend any capital on it,\u201d U.S. Representative Steve Chabot, an Ohio Republican, said in an interview on Friday. \u201cI am cautiously optimistic we will be able to get it through both houses and get it to the president\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act” quickly cleared its first hurdle when it was\u00a0approved\u00a0by the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month, but a floor vote hasn\u2019t been scheduled yet. The proposed law would subject the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to possible antitrust action by the Justice Department through an amendment of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the law used more than a century ago to break up the oil empire of John Rockefeller.<\/p>\n
Congressional support for the bill intensified last fall as crude prices neared a four-year high on the back of production limits set by OPEC, and Trump publicly blamed OPEC for high pump prices in the U.S. While the producer group hasn\u2019t set prices since the 1980s, its members periodically agree to boost or cut their production to keep the oil market in balance.<\/p>\n
A 2007 version of the so-called “NOPEC” bill passed the House and Senate by large margins, only to face a White House veto. Other attempts to approve the legislation have met similar fates. The difference this time is that Trump has consistently\u00a0bashed the oil cartel\u00a0on Twitter for keeping prices artificially high.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, we seem to have a sympathetic White House,\u201d Chabot said. “I hope the president will listen to the right people and be with us.\u201d<\/p>\n