Fate of U.S. Oil Dumping Case to Be Decided

The Commerce Department will rule today on whether to proceed with an unprecedented oil dumping case that has become a political thorn in the side of the Clinton administration. The first trade dumping case in U.S. history to involve a widely traded commodity such as oil has angered key trading partners, annoyed major oil importing companies and alarmed administration officials who fear a favorable decision could lead to higher energy prices. If duties are eventually imposed on the targeted oil from Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Iraq, U.S. consumers would pay higher prices in the short term for gasoline and heating oil, energy experts said. Save Domestic Oil, the group that says it has the support of 5,000 independent oil producers, filed the case accusing the four countries of selling underpriced crude during most of last year and early 1999. The oilmen blame the cheap crude for putting many small U.S. producers out of business. All four countries have denied the dumping charges, arguing that the price of oil is freely set in world markets. Many big U.S. oil companies that import oil have also urged the Commerce Department to dismiss the case. The Commerce Department is expected to issue its decision today, after it analyzes thousands of pages of documents to determine if the case has enough industry support for the charges to be investigated.