Oil Companies Win Again as Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Suit Alleging Price-Fixing Conspiracy

A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit brought by gasoline consumers against major oil companies that accused them of conspiring with the Trump administration, Russia, and Saudi Arabia to cut oil production and inflate gasoline prices. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Sept. 16 that a lower court correctly dismissed the lawsuit in January 2023 because courts lack the power to second-guess White House foreign policy and have no authority over how Russia and Saudi Arabia manage their oil resources. The appeals court also upheld the lower court’s finding that the plaintiffs failed to adequately state an antitrust conspiracy claim....