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American oil tycoon accused of trying to conspire with OPEC to inflate prices
Scott Sheffield, the founder and longtime CEO of a leading American oil producer, attempted to collude with OPEC and its allies to inflate prices, federal regulators alleged on Thursday. The Federal Trade Commission said Sheffield exchanged hundreds of text messages discussing pricing, production and oil market dynamics with officials at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, the cartel led by Saudi Arabia. Regulators say Sheffield, then the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, attempted to “align oil production” in the Permian Basin in Texas with that of OPEC and OPEC+, the wider group that ... (full story)