US efforts to punish OPEC+ will hit back at Washington

PV• DNUM_BIZBAZCACC 06:48

Washington's efforts to punish Saudi Arabia and other oil producers for their decision to cut OPEC+ oil production could impact the United States itself, Bloomberg writes.

As author Javier Blas notes, the United States' main tool against Saudi Arabia could be the "No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act," or NOPEC, which proposes OPEC comply with Sherman's antitrust laws.

Illustration photo.

"Passage of the bill would allow the White House to file an antitrust lawsuit against OPEC+ for manipulating prices in the global oil market," the article said.

Observers say the move will force countries to take retaliatory measures that could be "very costly" for Washington.

“It is likely that the bill will be introduced. However, despite Biden’s efforts to punish Riyadh and its allies for reducing the supply of black gold, it would be much wiser to avoid escalation by changing the law. Otherwise, Saudi Arabia could dump its US financial assets and openly talk about de-dollarizing oil prices,” the article said.

Blas noted that NOPEC has been a threat for the past 25 years and is considered a "nuclear" option that can only be used as a last resort.

"No one answered what would happen if the bill were passed. Would the US launch an antitrust investigation into OPEC+? Would Saudi Arabia be sued in federal court? If a lawsuit is filed and Washington wins, would the US receive any compensation? And the most important question is whether the fight was worth it?", the author of the article emphasized.