From Senator Maria Cantwell:

U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) today urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to utilize their existing authority to bring transparency and safeguards to the oil and gas futures markets.

The Senators also announced they are introducing legislation that would require all trading U.S. commodities on U.S. terminals for U.S. customers to be registered and regulated by the CFTC.

"After months of prices at the pump going nowhere but up, the CFTC must immediately use their existing authority to find out who is causing this costly run up. Right now it’s as if we are allowing drivers to go 120 miles per hour on U.S. freeways because they don’t have speed limits on the German autobahn,” said Cantwell. "Consumers across the country are losing confidence that they’re being protected from out of control prices, and we must establish a clear, bright line to help protect consumers from any illegal activity and to burst the oil price bubble."

Senator Snowe added, “This country is in an energy crisis, but you wouldn’t know it by watching Congress. At a time when American people cannot escape the direct impact that rising gas and oil prices have on their day-to-day lives, it is incumbent thatnj we ensure that our energy futures markets are transparent and demonstrate supply and demand – not manipulation by large institutional investors. Although the historic price increases and their toll on the American people is similar to the energy crisis of previous generations, speculation is massively different and we must ensure that these markets are properly working and not subject to manipulation. The CFTC must recognize this central difference and act accordingly by reasserting control over our futures markets.”

On May 23, 2008, Senators Cantwell and Snowe and 20 of their Senate colleagues sent the Commodities Futures Trading Commission a bipartisan letter urging the Commission to “take immediate action to protect consumers by ensuring that U.S. energy futures markets are fully transparent and subject to direct Commission oversight.” They noted that “[t]he current differential regulatory regimes governing the buying and selling of West Texas Intermediate crude oil future contracts and other U.S. delivered energy products are hurting American consumers and taxpayers and allowing market players to artificially influence and elevate prices in excess of those determined by historic supply and demand fundamentals. The Commission already has the power to take action we believe could swiftly and considerably lower out-of-control energy prices and we hope on behalf of the nation you use it expeditiously and effectively.”

The legislation introduced by the Senators today will force ICE to register as a designated contract market (DCM) allowing the CFTC to directly regulate all U.S. oil futures markets and ensure they are subject to the same level of oversight and transparency.