Prewitt Enterprises v. OPEC
Citation and Court
353 F.3d 916 (11th Cir. 2003)
Facts
Prewitt Enterprises sued OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) in U.S. federal court, alleging that OPEC’s oil price-fixing constituted an antitrust violation. OPEC, an international organization composed of sovereign member states, moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.
Issue
Whether OPEC or its member states could be sued in U.S. courts for antitrust violations, and whether OPEC qualifies as a “foreign state” or “agency or instrumentality” under the FSIA.
Holding
OPEC is not a “foreign state” or “agency or instrumentality” under the FSIA; the FSIA does not provide a basis for jurisdiction over OPEC as an international organization, and the case was dismissed.
Rule / Doctrine
The FSIA covers foreign states and their agencies or instrumentalities, but not international intergovernmental organizations per se. OPEC, as an organization of sovereign states rather than a state itself, does not fall within the FSIA’s definition of a suable foreign state.
Significance
Prewitt illustrates a significant jurisdictional gap — the FSIA does not reach international organizations like OPEC, leaving U.S. plaintiffs with no viable domestic forum to pursue antitrust claims against OPEC’s coordinated pricing activity.