Putin Helped By Saudi Arabia In His 'Despicable' Ukraine War, Says Schumer As Anti-Oil Cartel Bill Gains Bipartisan Momentum

As the ‘No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels’ (NOPEC) bill gained momentum among both parties, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in his tweet that Saudi Arabia’s actions will long be remembered by Americans.

“What Saudi Arabia did to help Putin continue to wage his despicable, vicious war against Ukraine will long be remembered by Americans. We are looking at all the legislative tools to best deal with this appalling and deeply cynical action, including the NOPEC bill,” Schumer said in his tweet.

What Saudi Arabia did to help Putin continue to wage his despicable, vicious war against Ukraine will long be remembered by Americans. We are looking at all the legislative tools to best deal with this appalling and deeply cynical action, including the NOPEC bill.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 6, 2022

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Momentum: The NOPEC bill gained momentum after OPEC+, an alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, decided on Wednesday to reduce oil output by 2 million barrels per day. The decision comes in the wake of tight oil supplies which have been impacted by the war in Ukraine.

Oil prices rose after the group’s announcement. The United States Brent Oil Fund BNO gained over 10% in the last five days, while the Vanguard Energy Index Fund ETF VDE rose over 14% in the same period.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who sponsored NOPEC, said he is looking forward to attaching the measure as an amendment to the forthcoming National Defense Authorization Act, reported Reuters.

Grassley has also criticized Biden’s policies saying it is time to reverse some of the energy policies put in place on Day 1 of the President’s office.

“Welcome 2 Pres Biden America where the strategic oil reserve is at the lowest level since 1983 & the OPEC cartel is reducing oil production by 2M barrels a day = ga$ price$ will be on the rise AGAIN Time to reverse the energy policies put in place on day 1 by Pres Biden,” Grassley said in his tweet.

NOPEC’s Impact: If the bill is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, NOPEC would change U.S. antitrust law to revoke the sovereign immunity that has so far protected OPEC+ members and their national oil companies from lawsuits, reported Reuters.

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