The Fifth Circuit panel of Judges E. Grady Jolly, Jacques L. Wiener Jr., and Carl E. Stewart upheld a dismissal of two class action cases alleging that oil companies owned by foreign governments in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) violated U.S. antitrust law. The classes, U.S. gasoline retailers and oil purchasers, claimed that OPEC-controlled companies openly conspired to limit production and fix prices. Numerous amici briefs were filed regarding the harmful impact on America’s oil supply should foreign-owned oil companies be held liable under U.S. antitrust law.
The Fifth Circuit found that the political question doctrine precluded the judicial branch from interfering with policy decisions constitutionally left to the executive or legislative branches. Here, interaction with OPEC controlled companies and foreign nations should be left to executive diplomacy rather than private litigation. Similarly, the court found that it was precluded from considering the validity of the actions of foreign states within their own territories.