W.D. MICH.Court order
Western District of Michigan dismisses Michigan’s antitrust suit against oil majors for lack of antitrust standing
U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering dismissed Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s antitrust suit against BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute on September 22, 2026. The court held Michigan lacked antitrust standing under the Sherman and Clayton Acts: the alleged decades-long conspiracy was not plausibly pleaded to have proximately caused retail energy overcharges, and Illinois Brick bars most indirect-purchaser overcharge damages. Beckering dismissed the federal claim with prejudice and declined supplemental jurisdiction over the state claim.
Opinion (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan) → · Reuters, Legal Newsline, The Seattle Times
Key points
- The court ruled Michigan failed to plead that the alleged 1979 suppression conspiracy proximately caused 2020s consumer and municipal overcharges.U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- Illinois Brick barred recovery of damages for indirect purchases made through vertical retail distribution chains under federal law.U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- Judge Beckering dismissed Count I with prejudice because Michigan declined an earlier opportunity to cure pleading defects by formal motion to amend.U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- The court declined supplemental jurisdiction over Count II under the Michigan Antitrust Reform Act and dismissed it without prejudice.U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- Defense counsel Theodore Boutrous of Gibson Dunn called the antitrust theories meritless, Legal Newsline reported.Legal Newsline
Sources4 articles across 4 outlets
Legal Newsline
Reuters
The Seattle Times
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan