UAE, Saudi energy ministers hit back at ‘NOPEC’ bill, say it could send oil prices surging

UAE, Saudi energy ministers hit back at ‘NOPEC’ bill, say it could send oil prices surging

Top OPEC ministers have hit back at new U.S. legislation intended to regulate its output, saying such efforts would bring greater chaos to energy markets. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told CNBC Tuesday that OPEC was being unfairly targeted over the energy crisis, and moves by U.S. lawmakers to disrupt its established system of production could see oil prices shoot up by as much as 300%. "If you hinder that system, you need to watch what you're asking for, because having a chaotic market you would see … a 200% or 300% increase in the prices that the world cannot handle," Al Mazrouei told CNBC's Dan Murphy during a panel at the World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi. passed a new bipartisan No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill with a 17-4 majority, marking a significant step forward in the decades-old proposal. The bill, which aims to protect U.S. consumers and businesses from engineered spikes in energy prices, would see the alliance open to antitrust lawsuits for orchestrating supply cuts that raise global crude prices. To take effect, it would now need to be passed by the full Senate and the House, before being signed into law by