Congress Pursues $80 Oil With Trading Limits, Disclosure Rules 
By Daniel Whitten
July 23 (Bloomberg) — Congress may outlaw elements of oil futures trading that lawmakers found distorted demand and contributed to the 69 percent surge in prices in the past year.
U.S. legislators are considering limits on the number of oil contracts an investor can hold and may increase disclosure requirements. Speculators such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. use the practices to bet on price swings, which may drive up prices, though they have no intention of taking delivery of underlying goods, lawmakers say.
Proposals being debated this week in the Senate would bring prices more in line with demand, proponents say. Excluding the effect of speculation, oil would be around $80 a barrel, 38 percent lower than yesterday’s price, according to Jesus Reyes Heroles, the chief executive officer of Petroleos Mexicanos. Critics say restrictions may interfere with the functioning of a $4 trillion annual market for crude oil.
“Americans are being taken advantage of not only by OPEC but by speculators right here in our own country,” says Senator Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, referring to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. “Historically, this has not been a bad problem. Only recently has speculation reached these unsustainable levels.”
Investor control of contracts to buy crude oil in New York almost doubled in April from five years earlier as prices climbed, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Increased energy costs have slowed the economy, reduced consumer buying power and angered voters. Continue here.
