Two shale oil producers requested Monday that Texas oil regulators consider forcing producers in the state to cut production to overcome a historic crash in prices.

Pioneer Natural Resources and Parsley Energy filed a motion asking the Texas Railroad Commission to hold an emergency meeting to debate imposing “pro-rationing” schedules, a power unused since 1973, to force Texas producers to cut production to raise the price of oil.

The companies requested the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil production, hold a meeting on the subject no later than April 13 and to act during the month of May.

“Pro-rationing orders by the commission are not warranted except in extraordinary circumstances,” said Scott Sheffield, president and CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, and Matt Gallagher, president and CEO of Parsley Energy. “But, today, the Texas oil industry faces disruptions that far surpass the merely extraordinary. Nearly overnight, U.S. producers have been engulfed by the largest imbalance in history in global supply and demand for oil.”

Saudi Arabia and Russia are engaged in a price war, flooding the market with crude oil, while demand has been crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, a double whammy that has produced historic low oil prices.

The U.S. WTI crude oil price dropped below $20 per barrel early Monday, the lowest price since 2002.

The request by shale companies for Texas regulators to intervene comes after one of the railroad commission’s three sitting commissioners, Ryan Sitton, first proposed the controversial idea of forcing Texas oil producers to limit their output.

Sitton, a Republican, said Texas could cut production 10% in exchange for Saudi Arabia and Russia each doing the same.

Sitton has suggested that OPEC, the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia, is supportive of the proposal. He said OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo invited Sitton to the oil cartel’s next meeting in June to discuss the idea.

But oil and gas lobbying groups representing the broader industry oppose the proposal, arguing it would position the United States in an inappropriate role of manipulating the oil price instead of letting markets dictate it.

“Any proposal that I would call 'TexOPEC' would be incredibly damaging to our posture in the world,” Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, told the Washington Examiner in a recent interview. “Imposing a production or export quota on Texas crude would really penalize the most efficient producers while supporting less efficient companies."

Wayne Christian, the chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, has also expressed skepticism about the idea.

"As a free market conservative, I have a number of reservations about this approach," Christian said.