Spectrum Stores, Inc., et al. v. Citgo Petroleum Corporation

CV-H-06-3569. (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division). A Lawsuit has been filed against Citgo targeting the corporate interests of Venezuela who currently does business in the United States through Citgo which is 100% wholly owned by Venezuela. The antitrust suit is brought under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, Section 1, and Section 4, and 16 of the Clayton Act. It arises out of the role of Defendant, CITGO Petroleum Corporation in a conspiracy among the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, "OPEC" and the "the cartel", an admitted price-fixing cartel, to raise, fix, and stabilize the price of gasoline and other oil-based products in the United States. The primary elements of OPEC's international conspiracy are agreed-upon limits on the production of oil by OPEC's eleven member nations, which together control most of the world's proven oil reserves. The avowed purpose and demonstrable effect on the cartel's production limits is to raise, fix, and stabilize world oil prices above competitive levels, thus increasing the prices of gasoline and other oil-based products throughout the United States. Cunningham, Bounds represents "jobbers", the parties who purchase oil and refined oil products directly from these American subsidiaries and then sell these products to gas stations, etc.

The case was dismissed by the trial court based on the "act of state" doctrine, and is currently on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.