OPEC Production Management Practices under WTO Law and the Antitrust Law of Non-OPEC Countries

The petroleum production management practices of OPEC member states have always been controversial particularly among the major petroleum-consuming nations of the developed world. While this controversy has traditionally been kept within the realm of politics, it is increasingly taking a legal form. A number of suits have been brought against OPEC, OPEC member states as well as their national oil companies or subsidiaries, often for alleged breach of national competition regulation. There have also been several attempts to use the WTO dispute settlement system to challenge OPEC member states that are also members of the WTO. This article attempts to answer the question of whether the petroleum production management practices of OPEC member states are subject to any external legal controls in the form of international economic law and the competition or antitrust laws of non-OPEC countries.