Independent oil producers appeal anti-dumping ruling

by The Associated Press

A band of independent oil producers will continue its battle against what it considers unfair competition from four oil-producing nations.

The group, called Save Domestic Oil, filed an appeal Sept. 7 with the U.S. Court of International Trade to overturn a Commerce Department decision purported to favor Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Iraq.

After oil prices collapsed in late 1998 and early 1999, the domestic producers accused the four countries of selling oil in the United States at below the cost of producing it.

The Commerce Department rejected their complaint Aug. 9, saying more domestic producers opposed the petition than supported it. However, the department never ruled on the merits of the producers’ charge.

David-against-Goliath, say independents

Leaders of Save Domestic Oil have portrayed theirs as a David-against-Goliath struggle.

“A lot of us knew when we started this it’d probably be a multi-step process,” said Harold Hamm, chairman of the group and chief executive of Continental Resources, an independent oil producer in Enid, Okla.

“We’re very hopeful this will move into a legal arena, where laws and precedent matter and politics don’t matter so much,” Hamm said.

The producers’ group has members in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Kansas. Officials said they’ll have no trouble raising the $150,000 they estimate an appeal will cost.

If the group prevails at the trade court, the Commerce Department would have to study whether the four countries actually sold their oil in the U.S. for less than it cost to produce.

If the agency finds evidence of dumping, about 60 percent of the country’s imported oil would be subject to steep tariffs.

Hamm believes the mere filing of the petition and now the appeal have convinced oil-producing countries to enforce production quotas and limit cheap sales, helping more than double the price of oil since last winter.