The FTC proposed Wednesday anti-manipulation rules. The rulemaking was
set in motion by enactment of the Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007, or EISA. A draft was issued May, and the new version incorporates
some suggestions from the 155 public comments the FTC received. EISA gives the FTC new authority to prohibit manipulation in wholesale petroleum markets.
The
FTC's plan focuses on fraudulent or deceptive conduct "that threatens
the integrity of wholesale petroleum markets" and is modeled after the
market manipulation prohibitions maintained by the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Under the FTC's proposal, it would be unlawful for
any refineries, pipelines, investment banks or any other outfit to
directly or indirectly commit fraud in the the purchase or sale of
crude oil, gasoline or petroleum distillates at wholesale. In this
case "fraud" means such things as false reporting or misleading
announcements by refineries, pipelines or investment banks to private
reporting services. Similarly, fraudulent and deceptive trading
practices in physical or futures markets would be banned. There would
be no new obligations or record-keeping requirements. -
Bill McConnell
See the FTC's announcement
The now-popular notion that market manipulation is to blame for oil
price spikes has taken some of the heat off of oil companies
contemplating mergers. Only a few months ago, Capitol Hill was loudly
denouncing oil deals as the cause of oil inflation. 
