I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4391 

To require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to take certain 

actions to reduce excessive speculation in energy markets. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2012 

Ms. HOCHUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to 

take certain actions to reduce excessive speculation in 

energy markets. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ENERGY MARKETS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

5 (1) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis6 sion was created as an independent agency, in 1974, 

7 with a mandate— 

8 (A) to enforce and administer the Com9 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); 

10 (B) to ensure market integrity; 


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1 (C) to protect market users from fraud 

2 and abusive trading practices; and 

3 (D) to prevent and prosecute manipulation 

4 of the price of any commodity in interstate 

5 commerce; 

6 (2) Congress has given the Commodity Futures 

7 Trading Commission authority under the Commodity 

8 Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) to take necessary 

9 actions to address market emergencies; 

10 (3) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis11 sion may use the emergency authority of the Com12 mission with respect to any major market disturb13 ance that prevents the market from accurately re14 flecting the forces of supply and demand for a com15 modity; 

16 (4) Congress declared in section 4a of the Com17 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6a) that excessive 

18 speculation imposes an undue and unnecessary bur19 den on interstate commerce; 

20 (5) according to an article published in Forbes 

21 on February 27, 2012, excessive oil speculation 

22 ‘‘translates out into a premium for gasoline at the 

23 pump of $.56 a gallon’’ based on a recent report 

24 from Goldman Sachs; 

25 (6) on March 30, 2012— 


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1 (A) the supply of crude oil and gasoline 

2 was higher than the supply was on March 27, 

3 2009, when the national average price for a gal4 lon of regular unleaded gasoline was just $2.04; 

5 and 

6 (B) demand for gasoline in the United 

7 States was lower than demand was on April 3, 

8 1998; 

9 (7) on March 30, 2012, the national average 

10 price of regular unleaded gasoline was over $3.94 a 

11 gallon, the highest national average price ever re12 corded in the United States during the month of 

13 March; 

14 (8) during the last quarter of 2011, according 

15 to the International Energy Agency— 

16 (A) the world oil supply rose by 1,300,000 

17 barrels per day while demand only increased by 

18 700,000 barrels per day; but 

19 (B) the price of Texas light sweet crude 

20 rose by over 12 percent; 

21 (9) on November 3, 2011, Gary Gensler, the 

22 Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Com23 mission testified before the Senate Permanent Sub24 committee on Investigations that ‘‘80 to 87 percent 

25 of the [oil futures] market’’ is dominated by ‘‘finanVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:50 Apr 20, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391

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1 cial participants, swap dealers, hedge funds, and 

2 other financials,’’ a figure that has more than dou3 bled over the past decade; 

4 (10) excessive oil and gasoline speculation is 

5 creating major market disturbances that prevent the 

6 market from accurately reflecting the forces of sup7 ply and demand; 

8 (11) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis9 sion has a responsibility— 

10 (A) to ensure that the price discovery for 

11 oil and gasoline accurately reflects the fun12 damentals of supply and demand; and 

13 (B) to take immediate action to implement 

14 strong and meaningful position limits to regu15 lated exchange markets to eliminate excessive 

16 oil speculation; and 

17 (12) record high gasoline prices place a heavy 

18 economic burden on farmers, businesses, and fami19 lies across the United States. 

20 (b) ACTIONS.—Not later than 14 days after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Commodity Futures Trading 

22 Commission shall use the authority of the Commission (in23 cluding emergency powers)— 

24 (1) to curb immediately the role of excessive 

25 speculation in any contract market within the jurisVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:50 Apr 20, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391

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1 diction and control of the Commission, on or 

2 through which energy futures or swaps are traded; 

3 (2) to eliminate excessive speculation, price dis4 tortion, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations, or un5 warranted changes in prices, or other unlawful activ6 ity that is causing major market disturbances that 

7 prevent the market from accurately reflecting the 

8 forces of supply and demand for energy commod9 ities; and 

10 (3) to prioritize finalizing and enforcing a posi11 tion limits regime designed to diminish, eliminate, or 

12 prevent excessive speculation in energy markets. 

Æ 


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