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US: Former US Solicitor General will no longer lobby against “NOPEC”

 |  October 22, 2018
According to a report from Bloomberg, former Solicitor General Ted Olson will no longer lobby on behalf of Saudi Arabia against the proposed “NOPEC” bill after his law firm pulled out of the deal.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s representation of the Saudi embassy concluded on Thursday, October 18, according to an updated filing with the Justice Department, which maintains registrations of foreign agents in the US.

Last month, the Saudi embassy contracted with Gibson to develop a white paper opposing the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act” legislation (NOPEC).

The House of Representatives introduced a version of the bill in May. The Senate has also revived legislation, which would amend the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which is the law used more than a century ago to break up the oil empire of John Rockefeller.

President Trump’s antitrust chief said earlier this month that the administration is “still studying that legislation,” in reference to NOPEC. “We don’t have an administration position on that,” US Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said after a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on October 3.