# NOPEC: What This Bill Actually Does

The NOPEC bill is designed to allow the United States to take legal action against oil-producing countries that work together to control oil prices and limit supply. Right now, there's a law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act that generally protects foreign governments from being sued in American courts. NOPEC would create an exception to that protection specifically for countries that participate in organizations like OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) when they're accused of artificially manipulating oil prices.

Here's what this means in practical terms: If oil-producing nations coordinate to keep oil prices high by restricting how much oil they pump into the global market, American companies or the U.S. government could potentially sue those countries in federal court for damages. The bill targets coordinated behavior that's meant to reduce competition and artificially inflate prices—essentially treating it similarly to how the government goes after price-fixing schemes by private companies. The goal is to break up what supporters see as a cartel that harms American consumers and businesses by keeping gas prices artificially high.

The main people affected would be American consumers who pay for gas, heating oil, and other petroleum products, as well as American oil companies and industries that depend on affordable energy. Supporters argue lower oil prices would result from breaking up OPEC's coordination. On the flip side, oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia have opposed this legislation, arguing it violates international law and could damage diplomatic relationships. The bill essentially says the U.S. is willing to challenge OPEC's pricing power through the courts rather than just through negotiation.

NOPEC

Grassley, Chuck

No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2023 or NOPEC 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 <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> 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.