Democrats Introduce Bill to Hold Energy Companies Accountable for Collusion with OPEC

Democratic U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday aimed at holding energy companies accountable if they are found to have colluded with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise oil prices, according to Reuters. The bill, spearheaded by Senator Edward Markey and Representative Nanette Barragan, would prohibit energy companies found guilty by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of such collusion from obtaining new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.

The bill comes in the wake of accusations by the FTC against Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield. In May, the FTC alleged that Sheffield exchanged hundreds of messages with OPEC officials to artificially inflate oil prices. Despite these accusations, the U.S. antitrust regulator approved Exxon Mobil’s $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer but barred Sheffield from joining Exxon’s board. Sheffield has denied the allegations, and Exxon, which now owns Pioneer, has stated that it provided over 1.1 million documents to the FTC, which raised no concerns about its business practices. Exxon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new bill.

Although the bill faces slim chances of passing due to Republican control of the House of Representatives and a narrow Democratic majority in the Senate, it underscores ongoing efforts by some lawmakers to pressure oil companies. The bill has garnered support from approximately 11 other progressive Democrats in the House, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Raul Grijalva.

The legislative move coincides with a broader scrutiny of domestic oil producers’ potential coordination with OPEC. Last month, the U.S. Senate budget committee launched an investigation into such efforts, a move that the American Petroleum Institute, a major lobbying group, dismissed as an “election year stunt.”