US Democrats launch bill holding oil firms accountable for any work with OPEC

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill to hold energy companies accountable if they are found by federal regulators to have colluded with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise oil prices.

The bill, introduced by Senator Edward Markey and Representative Nanette Barragan, says that if any energy company is found by the Federal Trade Commission to have colluded with OPEC, it would no longer be eligible for new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.

WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND?

In May, the FTC accused Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield of exchanging hundreds of messages with OPEC officials to artificially inflate oil prices. The U.S. antitrust regulator approved Exxon Mobil's $60 billion purchase of Pioneer, but barred Sheffield from Exxon's board.

Sheffield has denied the FTC's allegations. Exxon, which has since bought Pioneer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the bill. But Exxon has said that it has submitted more than 1.1 million documents and other information and data to the FTC and that the agency has raised no concerns with its business practices.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

While the bill has almost no chance of passing with Republicans controlling the House of Representatives and Democrats holding only a slim majority in the Senate, it shows that some lawmakers are keeping pressure on oil companies.

Last month, the U.S. Senate budget committee launched a probe of domestic producers about any efforts to coordinate oil price with OPEC, in a move the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group, called an "election year stunt."

Markey's bill was also co-sponsored by about 11 other left-leaning Democrats in the House, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortz and Raul Grijalva.

KEY QUOTE

Markey said in a statement that the bill is a "first step towards ensuring Big Oil gets Big Consequences when they profiteer off the backs of hard-working Americans."

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Marguerita Choy)