Strange but true. The House passed a bill Tuesday which allows the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for forming a cartel and setting crude prices worldwide. The best part is , the vote was 345 to 72, a big enough margin to make a Presidential veto meaningless.
It also allows the Justice Department to look into complaints of gas price gouging and energy market manipulation. Oil company mergers will also require approval to ensure they don't impact prices.
The bill was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin. He says,'The bill guarantees that oil pries will reflect supply and demand economic rules, instead of wildly speculative and perhaps illegal activities.'
The White House on its part feels that if damages are awarded against any OPEC member, the cartel may hit back by further cutting output, causing a further rise in oil prices. Many of the refineries in the US are owned by foreign state owned oil companies. Further investment in these refineries may also get hit, it fears.
The bill now goes to the Senate An earlier legislation on similar lines had been passed by the Senate earlier,but the provision of being able to sue OPEC was removed at the insistence of the White House.
The bill does not specify how the Justice Department can recover the money awarded as damages.