02:44 PM EDT, 09/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) and Chevron ( CVX ) were among the big oil firms that earned a legal victory when a federal appeals court dismissed a case brought by consumers who alleged that the firms colluded with foreign nations and former President Donald Trump to cut production and raise prices.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a lower court's decision and said that the court lacked the subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the plaintiffs' allegations of a global oil conspiracy involving the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

"Under the political question doctrine, President Trump's decision to negotiate with other countries was a fundamental foreign relations decision," the court said in its opinion. "Subjecting this decision to judicial review would amount to second-guessing the Executive Branch's foreign policy."

In addition, the appeals court held that the plaintiffs failed "sufficiently to allege either direct evidence of an antitrust conspiracy or circumstantial evidence of parallel conduct among competitors and certain 'plus factors' suggesting a conspiracy."

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