II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2222 

To require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to take certain 

actions to reduce excessive speculation in energy markets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2012 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, and Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

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.); 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2222 IS

1 (B) to ensure market integrity; 

2 (C) to protect market users from fraud 

3 and abusive trading practices; and 

4 (D) to prevent and prosecute manipulation 

5 of the price of any commodity in interstate 

6 commerce; 

7 (2) Congress has given the Commodity Futures 

8 Trading Commission authority under the Commodity 

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

10 actions to address market emergencies; 

11 (3) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis12 sion may use the emergency authority of the Com13 mission with respect to any major market disturb14 ance that prevents the market from accurately re15 flecting the forces of supply and demand for a com16 modity; 

17 (4) Congress declared in section 4a of the Com18 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6a) that excessive 

19 speculation imposes an undue and unnecessary bur20 den on interstate commerce; 

21 (5) according to an article published in Forbes 

22 on February 27, 2012, excessive oil speculation 

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

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

25 from Goldman Sachs; 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2222 IS

1 (6) on March 9, 2012— 

2 (A) the supply of crude oil and gasoline 

3 was higher than the supply was on March 6, 

4 2009, when the national average price for a gal5 lon of regular unleaded gasoline was just $1.94; 

6 and 

7 (B) demand for gasoline in the United 

8 States was lower than demand was on June 20, 

9 1997; 

10 (7) on March 12, 2012, the national average 

11 price of regular unleaded gasoline was over $3.82 a 

12 gallon, the highest price ever recorded in the United 

13 States during the month of 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 21:16 Mar 22, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2222.IS S2222

sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2222 IS

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; and 

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. 

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

18 of enactment of this Act, the Commodity Futures Trading 

19 Commission shall use the authority of the Commission (in20 cluding emergency powers)— 

21 (1) to curb immediately the role of excessive 

22 speculation in any contract market within the juris23 diction and control of the Commission, on or 

24 through which energy futures or swaps are traded; 

25 and 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2222 IS

1 (2) to eliminate excessive speculation, price dis2 tortion, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations, or un3 warranted changes in prices, or other unlawful activ4 ity that is causing major market disturbances that 

5 prevent the market from accurately reflecting the 

6 forces of supply and demand for energy commod7 ities. 

Æ 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS