The United States Senate in late June passed a bill that would allow the Justice Department to sue the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for price manipulation and high oil prices, but President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the bill, warning that OPEC members could retaliate by tightening the flow of oil into the US. The bill, dubbed NOPEC or the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007” would revoke the sovereign immunity OPEC members enjoy from being sued in US courts. OPEC President Mohammed al-Hamli called the move by US lawmakers a dangerous step and added that decisions taken by OPEC were non-binding and that the organization will fight these attempts. “It’s a really dangerous step. We will defend ourselves against these attacks,” Hamli told reporters at an oil conference in Turkey in June. Latest official figures show that Americans are currently paying an
