No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act

The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007 (NOPEC) was a U.S. Congressional bill, also known as H.R. 2264 and, in 2008, as part of H.R. 6074. NOPEC was designed to remove the sovereign immunity shield and to allow the international oil cartel, OPEC, and its national oil companies to be sued under U.S. law for anti-competitive attempts to limit the world's supply of petroleum and the consequent impact on oil prices. The NOPEC Act was initially sponsored and introduced by Representative John Conyers, D-MI in May 2007 and as H.R. 6074 by Representative Steve Kagan, D-WI. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the 2007 bill had 12, bipartisan co-sponsors, which included Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich. HR 2264 also had strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said: "It is long past time for this to become law." HR 2264 was passed by the House of Representatives in May 2007, as stand-alone bill by a vote of 345-72. That same month, it also passed the Senate by a vote of 70-23 as part of its energy measure. As part of the Gas Price Relief Act, NOPEC (H.R. 6074) was then passed, in the House of Representatives, in May 2008, by a vote of 324-84. President G. W. Bush, reiterated his previous promise to veto the bill. Under a continued veto threat, a team of senators reintroduced the bill just a week before President Bush left office. However, NOPEC/H. R. 6074 did not then come to a final Senate vote and has not gone beyond its introduction subsequently.