The Commerce Department yesterday rejected a petition by a groupof Oklahoma independent producers that sought to have tariffsimposed on the crude oil imports of four foreign countries accusedof illegal dumping.

The decision was a resounding win for major U.S. oil/natural gasproducers and interstate gas pipelines, which opposed the petition,and a huge disappointment for independent producers throughout thenation.

A coalition of Oklahoma independents, called “Save Domestic Oil”(SDO), filed the petition in an attempt to stop Mexico, Venezuela,Saudi and Iraq from allegedly dumping oil in the United States. Thepetition required the support of 25% of the industry in order towin Commerce approval.

Although the petition applied solely to crude oil, gas producersand pipelines got involved when Mexico – in a retaliatory move -decided not to lift its tariff on gas imports from the U.S. Nowthat the dumping petition has been dismissed, it’s expected thatMexico will proceed to remove the tariff.

“I don’t see this as a dumping [case],” said Allen Mesch, aprofessor at Southern Methodist University specializing in oil andgas. It was an attempt by independent producers to “gain attention”to their plight, and it involved the Commerce Department, he noted.

Mesch said OPEC did everything it could in the past year toraise oil prices. “To suggest that these countries are targetingthe U.S. is wrong. If they had been selling oil to the U.S. at $3 abarrel, then that would have been dumping. But that hasn’t been thecase.”

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