OPEC was formally reviewed

A U.S. Justice Department official said the Justice Department was formally reviewing anti-monopoly legislation aimed at curbing OPEC's influence on the oil market.

The official, who declined to be named, said that although the study was still under way, there was an understanding that the oil cartel had increased the cost of American consumers by affecting crude oil prices through production quotas.

Both houses of Congress have proposed bipartisan proposals against OPEC, but neither house has voted on these measures.

The House Judicial Committee passed the Prohibition of Oil Production and Export Cartels Act (NOPEC) in June, which will give the Attorney General the power to sue OPEC for trying to control oil production or affect crude oil prices.

It will amend the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was used more than a century ago to disintegrate John Rockefeller's oil empire.

Although successive presidents have threatened to use the veto to prevent similar bills from becoming law, Trump, on the contrary, has repeatedly criticized OPEC for high oil prices.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is scheduled to meet in Vienna next month. The current sharp drop in oil prices has prompted calls for OPEC to curb production in 2019.

Saudi Arabia has expressed its support for a substantial reduction in production, as a first step, by cutting production by 500,000 barrels a day in December.