Number: RS22442
Title: S. 2557, "Oil and Gas Industry Antitrust Act of 2006": Brief Legal Analysis
Authors: Janice Rubin, American Law Division 
Abstract: This report addresses one of several approaches to the issue of rising gasoline prices put forward in the 109th Congress. S. 2557 was introduced on April 6, 2006, by Senator Specter, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reported by that committee on April 27, but was not scheduled for floor action. The bill sought to amend the antitrust laws to accomplish four things: (1) mitigate regional shortages of petroleum and natural gas products; (2) mandate federal agency reviews to (a) fine-tune the statutory provision most concerned with mergers1 so that it would be particularly applicable to mergers in the oil and gas industry, and (b) examine the effectiveness of the divestiture remedy for mergers in that industry; (3) establish a federal-state task force to examine information-sharing in the oil and gas industries; and (4) make U.S. antitrust law applicable to certain actions carried out by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Pages: 6
Date: December 21, 2006