I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4457 

To require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to take certain 

actions to reduce excessive speculation in energy markets. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2012 

Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HONDA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

RANGEL, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KISSELL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. YARMUTH, Mrs. 

DAVIS of California, Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. MCGOVERN) 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— 


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1 (A) to enforce and administer the Com2 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); 

3 (B) to ensure market integrity; 

4 (C) to protect market users from fraud 

5 and abusive trading practices; and 

6 (D) to prevent and prosecute manipulation 

7 of the price of any commodity in interstate 

8 commerce; 

9 (2) Congress has given the Commodity Futures 

10 Trading Commission authority under the Commodity 

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

12 actions to address market emergencies; 

13 (3) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis14 sion may use the emergency authority of the Com15 mission with respect to any major market disturb16 ance that prevents the market from accurately re17 flecting the forces of supply and demand for a com18 modity; 

19 (4) Congress declared in section 4a of the Com20 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6a) that excessive 

21 speculation imposes an undue and unnecessary bur22 den on interstate commerce; 

23 (5) according to an article published in Forbes 

24 on February 27, 2012, excessive oil speculation 

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


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

2 from Goldman Sachs; 

3 (6) on March 9, 2012— 

4 (A) the supply of crude oil and gasoline 

5 was higher than the supply was on March 6, 

6 2009, when the national average price for a gal7 lon of regular unleaded gasoline was just $1.94; 

8 and 

9 (B) demand for gasoline in the United 

10 States was lower than demand was on June 20, 

11 1997; 

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

13 price of regular unleaded gasoline was over $3.82 a 

14 gallon, the highest price ever recorded in the United 

15 States during the month of March; 

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

17 to the International Energy Agency— 

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

19 barrels per day while demand only increased by 

20 700,000 barrels per day; but 

21 (B) the price of Texas light sweet crude 

22 rose by over 12 percent; 

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

24 Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Com25 mission testified before the Senate Permanent SubVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:24 Apr 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4457.IH H4457

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1 committee on Investigations that ‘‘80 to 87 percent 

2 of the [oil futures] market’’ is dominated by ‘‘finan3 cial participants, swap dealers, hedge funds, and 

4 other financials,’’ a figure that has more than dou5 bled over the past decade; 

6 (10) excessive oil and gasoline speculation is 

7 creating major market disturbances that prevent the 

8 market from accurately reflecting the forces of sup9 ply and demand; and 

10 (11) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis11 sion has a responsibility— 

12 (A) to ensure that the price discovery for 

13 oil and gasoline accurately reflects the fun14 damentals of supply and demand; and 

15 (B) to take immediate action to implement 

16 strong and meaningful position limits to regu17 lated exchange markets to eliminate excessive 

18 oil speculation. 

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

20 of enactment of this Act, the Commodity Futures Trading 

21 Commission shall use the authority of the Commission (in22 cluding emergency powers)— 

23 (1) to curb immediately the role of excessive 

24 speculation in any contract market within the juris25 diction and control of the Commission, on or 


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1 through which energy futures or swaps are traded; 

2 and 

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. 

Æ 


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