Clayco Petroleum Corporation and Bruce Clayman v. Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental of Umm Al Qaywayn, Inc., and Armand Hammer

This appeal arises from an antitrust suit filed by Clayco Petroleum Corporation and Bruce dayman, the founder and principal shareholder of Clayco against Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental of Umm Al Qaywayn, Inc. and Armand Hammer (Occidental) charging Occidental with making secret payments to an official of Umm Al Qaywayn in order to obtain unlawfully an off-shore oil concession. The district court dismissed the action on the basis of the act of state doctrine. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL CONTEXT

Plaintiffs commenced this action alleging violations of section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 , section 2(c) of the RobinsonPatman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 13 (c), sections 16720 and 17045 of the California Business and Professions Code, and the common law. The crux of the complaint is that Occidental conspired to make and made secret payments in England and Switzerland totalling $417,000 to Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Muallah (Sultan), Umm Al Qaywayn’s Petroleum Minister and son of its ruler, Sheikh Ahmed al Mualla (Ahmed). The complaint further alleges that only through these unlawful and anti-competitive actions did defendants secure the valuable off-shore oil concession.…