[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5279 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5279
To improve competition in the oil and gas industry, to strengthen
antitrust enforcement with regard to industry mergers, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 3, 2006
Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mr. Chabot, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California,
Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Lee, and
Mr. Honda) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve competition in the oil and gas industry, to strengthen
antitrust enforcement with regard to industry mergers, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Oil and Gas Industry Antitrust Act
of 2006''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON UNILATERAL WITHHOLDING.
The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 28 as section 29; and
(2) by inserting after section 27 the following:
``SEC. 28. OIL AND NATURAL GAS.
``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall
be unlawful for any person to refuse to sell, or to export or divert,
existing supplies of petroleum, gasoline, or other fuel derived from
petroleum, or natural gas with the primary intention of increasing
prices or creating a shortage in a geographic market.
``(b) Considerations.--In determining whether a person who has
refused to sell, or exported or diverted, existing supplies of
petroleum, gasoline, or other fuel derived from petroleum or natural
gas has done so with the intent of increasing prices or creating a
shortage in a geographic market under subsection (a), the court shall
consider whether--
``(1) the cost of acquiring, producing, refining,
processing, marketing, selling, or otherwise making such
products available has increased; and
``(2) the price obtained from exporting or diverting
existing supplies is greater than the price obtained where the
existing supplies are located or are intended to be shipped.''.
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF CLAYTON ACT.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General and the Chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission shall conduct a study, including a review of
the report submitted under section 4, regarding whether section 7 of
the Clayton Act should be amended to modify how that section applies to
persons engaged in the business of exploring for, producing, refining,
or otherwise processing, storing, marketing, selling, or otherwise
making available petroleum, gasoline or other fuel derived from
petroleum, or natural gas.
(b) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade
Commission shall submit a report to Congress regarding the findings of
the study conducted under subsection (a), including recommendations and
proposed legislation, if any.
SEC. 4. STUDY BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``covered consent
decree'' means a consent decree--
(1) to which either the Federal Trade Commission or the
Department of Justice is a party;
(2) that was entered by the district court not earlier than
10 years before the date of enactment of this Act;
(3) that required divestitures; and
(4) that involved a person engaged in the business of
exploring for, producing, refining, or otherwise processing,
storing, marketing, selling, or otherwise making available
petroleum, gasoline or other fuel derived from petroleum, or
natural gas.
(b) Requirement for a Study.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct a study evaluating the effectiveness of
divestitures required under covered consent decrees.
(c) Requirement for a Report.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a
report to Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of
Justice regarding the findings of the study conducted under subsection
(b).
(d) Federal Agency Consideration.--Upon receipt of the report
required by subsection (c), the Attorney General or the Chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission, as appropriate, shall consider whether any
additional action is required to restore competition or prevent a
substantial lessening of competition occurring as a result of any
transaction that was the subject of the study conducted under
subsection (b).
SEC. 5. JOINT FEDERAL AND STATE TASK FORCE.
The Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade
Commission shall establish a joint Federal-State task force, which
shall include the attorney general of any State that chooses to
participate, to investigate information sharing (including through the
use of exchange agreements and commercial information services) among
persons in the business of exploring for, producing, refining, or
otherwise processing, storing, marketing, selling, or otherwise making
available petroleum, gasoline or other fuel derived from petroleum, or
natural gas (including any person about which the Energy Information
Administration collects financial and operating data as part of its
Financial Reporting System).
SEC. 6. NO OIL PRODUCING AND EXPORTING CARTELS.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``No Oil
Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2006'' or ``NOPEC''.
(b) Sherman Act.--The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating section 8 as section 9; and
(2) by inserting after section 7 the following:
``SEC. 8. OIL PRODUCING CARTELS.
``(a) In General.--It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act
for any foreign state, or any instrumentality or agent of any foreign
state, in the circumstances described in subsection (b), to act
collectively or in combination with any other foreign state, any
instrumentality or agent of any other foreign state, or any other
person, whether by cartel or any other association or form of
cooperation or joint action--
``(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil,
natural gas, or any other petroleum product;
``(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or
any petroleum product; or
``(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade
for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product.
``(b) Circumstances.--The circumstances described in this
subsection are an instance when an action, combination, or collective
action described in subsection (a) has a direct, substantial, and
reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, price, or
distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product in the
United States.
``(c) Sovereign Immunity.--A foreign state engaged in conduct in
violation of subsection (a) shall not be immune under the doctrine of
sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction or judgments of the courts of
the United States in any action brought to enforce this section.
``(d) Inapplicability of Act of State Doctrine.--No court of the
United States shall decline, based on the act of state doctrine, to
make a determination on the merits in an action brought under this
section.
``(e) Enforcement.--The Attorney General of the United States may
bring an action to enforce this section in any district court of the
United States as provided under the antitrust laws, as defined in
section 1(a) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)).''.
(c) Sovereign Immunity.--Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) in which the action is brought under section 8 of the
Sherman Act.''.
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