WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S.

lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill to hold energy

companies accountable if they are found by federal regulators to

have colluded with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting

Countries to raise oil prices.

The bill, introduced by Senator Edward Markey and

Representative Nanette Barragan, says that if any energy company

is found by the Federal Trade Commission to have colluded with

OPEC, it would no longer be eligible for new oil and gas leases

on federal lands and waters.

WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND?

In May, the FTC accused Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott

Sheffield of exchanging hundreds of messages with OPEC officials

to artificially inflate oil prices. The U.S. antitrust regulator

approved Exxon Mobil's ( XOM ) $60 billion purchase of Pioneer,

but barred Sheffield from Exxon's board.

Sheffield has denied the FTC's allegations. Exxon, which has

since bought Pioneer, did not immediately respond to a request

for comment about the bill. But Exxon has said that it has

submitted more than 1.1 million documents and other information

and data to the FTC and that the agency has raised no concerns

with its business practices.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

While the bill has almost no chance of passing with

Republicans controlling the House of Representatives and

Democrats holding only a slim majority in the Senate, it shows

that some lawmakers are keeping pressure on oil companies.

Last month, the U.S. Senate budget committee launched a

probe of domestic producers about any efforts to coordinate oil

price with OPEC, in a move the American Petroleum Institute, a

lobbying group, called an "election year stunt."

Markey's bill was also co-sponsored by about 11 other

left-leaning Democrats in the House, including Alexandria

Ocasio-Cortz and Raul Grijalva.

KEY QUOTE

Markey said in a statement that the bill is a "first step

towards ensuring Big Oil gets Big Consequences when they

profiteer off the backs of hard-working Americans."