The anti-cartel bill: will the US declare war on OPEC +

Marcel Salikhov, Director of the Center for Economic Expertise, National Research University Higher School of Economics, commented to Gazeta.ru on the likelihood of an open confrontation between the United States and the oil countries.

The adoption of the bill is still unlikely in the current political situation, Marcel Salikhov, director of the Center for Economic Expertise at the Higher School of Economics says.

He clarifies that this document has never come close to being adopted for 20 years. From time to time it is used as a tool for political pressure.

“Just a year ago, US President Donald Trump practically acted as a “broker” in the restoration of OPEC + and promised that the United States would cut production under this agreement. Therefore, it is rather difficult to imagine that now we can talk about the real prosecution of OPEC + in the framework of antimonopoly proceedings. It is not entirely clear in what practical way antitrust legislation can be used against individual countries, and not companies that operate under American jurisdictions," the expert notes in an interview with Gazeta.Ru.

“Saudi Arabia, the leader of OPEC, is an important US foreign policy ally in the Middle East. The OPEC's prosecution clearly threatens these ties. Thus, there are a large number of political and not only factors that impede the adoption of this bill,” Salikhov sums up.