US: A three-lawyer Gibson Dunn team discloses their advocacy for Saudi Arabia

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Ted Olson, a former US solicitor general who served under the George W. Bush administration, has registered as a foreign agent advocating for Saudi Arabia to defeat proposed legislation that would allow US antitrust enforcers to target the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its members.

The Saudi embassy contracted with Olson’s law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, to develop a white paper opposing the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act” legislation. It will also prepare a legal analysis of the bill and write an op-ed against it. The firm’s work also could include lobbying members of Congress and their staffs.

Details of the embassy’s contract with the law firm are described in a September 7 filing with the Justice Department, which maintains registrations of foreign agents in the US.

Saudi Arabia is the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about one-third of the world’s crude. The group was said in July to be consulting with lawyers to prepare a strategy to defend against proposed US legislation that could open up the cartel to antitrust lawsuits, according to people familiar with the matter at the time.

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