announced that it was investigating the possibility that BP, Shell, Statoil and others “may have colluded in reporting distorted prices to a Price Reporting Agency to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products.”

A second Sanders amendment would give the commission 30 days to use all of its authority, including its emergency powers, to eliminate, prevent or diminish excessive oil speculation. It also would make the commission ensure that oil and gasoline prices are based on the fundamentals of supply and demand.

Exxon Mobil, Goldman Sachs, the American Trucking Association, Delta Airlines, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, the Consumer Federation of America, the International Monetary Fund and a 2012 report from the St. Louis Federal Reserve all have indicated that excessive oil speculation significantly increases oil and gasoline prices.

The chairman of the commodity commission has stated that Wall Street oil speculators now control more than 80 percent of the energy futures market, a figure that has more than doubled over the past decade. This excessive oil and gasoline speculation is clearly causing major market disturbances that prevent the market from accurately reflecting the forces of supply and demand.

To read the amendment on price fixing, click here.

To read the amendment on emergency action by the CFTC, click here.