II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1420 

To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to provide for the 

collection of information on critical energy supplies, to establish a Working Group on Energy Markets, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to 

provide for the collection of information on critical energy 

supplies, to establish a Working Group on Energy Markets, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Markets Act 

5 of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCED INFORMATION ON CRITICAL ENERGY 

2 SUPPLIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Department of 

4 Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7135) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(n) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ON CRITICAL

7 ENERGY SUPPLIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To ensure transparency of 

9 information relating to energy infrastructure and 

10 product ownership in the United States and improve 

11 the ability to evaluate the energy security of the 

12 United States, the Administrator, in consultation 

13 with other Federal agencies (as necessary), shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) not later than 120 days after the date 

15 of enactment of this subsection, develop and 

16 provide notice of a plan to collect, in coopera17 tion with the Commodity Futures Trade Com18 mission, information identifying all oil inven19 tories, and other physical oil assets (including 

20 all petroleum-based products and the storage of 

21 such products in off-shore tankers), that are 

22 owned by the 50 largest traders of oil contracts 

23 (including derivative contracts), as determined 

24 by the Commodity Futures Trade Commission; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) not later than 90 days after the date 

2 on which notice is provided under subparagraph 

3 (A), implement the plan described in that sub4 paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—The plan required under 

6 paragraph (1) shall include a description of the plan 

7 of the Administrator for collecting company-specific 

8 data, including— 

9 ‘‘(A) volumes of product under ownership; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) storage and transportation capacity 

12 (including owned and leased capacity). 

13 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA14 TION.—Section 12(f) of the Federal Energy Admin15 istration Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 771(f)) shall apply 

16 to information collected under this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(o) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ON STORAGE

18 CAPACITY FOR OIL AND NATURAL GAS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

20 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

21 Administrator of the Energy Information Adminis22 tration shall collect information quantifying the com23 mercial storage capacity for oil and natural gas in 

24 the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall up2 date annually the information required under para3 graph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA5 TION.—Section 12(f) of the Federal Energy Admin6 istration Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 771(f)) shall apply 

7 to information collected under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(p) FINANCIAL MARKET ANALYSIS OFFICE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be within 

10 the Energy Information Administration a Financial 

11 Market Analysis Office, headed by a director, who 

12 shall report directly to the Administrator of the En13 ergy Information Administration. 

14 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Office shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) be responsible for analysis of the fi16 nancial aspects of energy markets; 

17 ‘‘(B) review the reports required by section 

18 4(c) of the Energy Markets Act of 2015 in ad19 vance of the submission of the reports to Con20 gress; and 

21 ‘‘(C) not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this subsection— 

23 ‘‘(i) make recommendations to the 

24 Administrator of the Energy Information 

25 Administration that identify and quantify 


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1 any additional resources that are required 

2 to improve the ability of the Energy Infor3 mation Administration to more fully inte4 grate financial market information into the 

5 analyses and forecasts of the Energy Infor6 mation Administration, including the role 

7 of energy futures contracts, energy com8 modity swaps, and derivatives in price for9 mation for oil; 

10 ‘‘(ii) conduct a review of implications 

11 of policy changes (including changes in ex12 port or import policies) and changes in 

13 how crude oil and refined petroleum prod14 ucts are transported with respect to price 

15 formation of crude oil and refined petro16 leum products; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) notify the Committee on Energy 

18 and Natural Resources, and the Committee 

19 on Appropriations, of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 

21 the Committee on Appropriations, of the 

22 House of Representatives of the rec23 ommendations described in clause (i). 

24 ‘‘(3) ANALYSES.—The Administrator of the En25 ergy Information Administration shall take analyses 


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1 by the Office into account in conducting analyses 

2 and forecasting of energy prices.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 645 of the 

4 Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7255) 

5 is amended by inserting ‘‘(15 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) and 

6 the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.)’’ after ‘‘Nat7 ural Gas Policy Act of 1978’’. 

8 SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP ON ENERGY MARKETS. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Work10 ing Group on Energy Markets (referred to in this Act as 

11 the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

12 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Working Group shall be 

13 composed of— 

14 (1) the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this 

15 Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’); 

16 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury; 

17 (3) the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regu18 latory Commission; 

19 (4) the Chairman of Federal Trade Commis20 sion; 

21 (5) the Chairman of the Securities and Ex22 change Commission; 

23 (6) the Chairman of the Commodity Futures 

24 Trading Commission; and 


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1 (7) the Administrator of the Energy Informa2 tion Administration. 

3 (c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall serve as the 

4 Chairperson of the Working Group. 

5 (d) COMPENSATION.—A member of the Working 

6 Group shall serve without additional compensation for the 

7 work of the member of the Working Group. 

8 (e) PURPOSE AND FUNCTION.—The Working Group 

9 shall— 

10 (1) investigate the effect of increased financial 

11 investment in energy commodities on energy prices 

12 and the energy security of the United States; 

13 (2) recommend to the President and Congress 

14 laws (including regulations) that may be needed to 

15 prevent excessive speculation in energy commodity 

16 markets in order to prevent or minimize the adverse 

17 impact of excessive speculation on energy prices on 

18 consumers and the economy of the United States; 

19 and 

20 (3) review energy security implications of devel21 opments in international energy markets. 

22 (f) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall provide 

23 the Working Group with such administrative and support 

24 services as may be necessary for the performance of the 

25 functions of the Working Group. 


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1 (g) COOPERATION OF OTHER AGENCIES.—The heads 

2 of Executive departments, agencies, and independent in3 strumentalities shall, to the extent permitted by law, pro4 vide the Working Group with such information as the 

5 Working Group requires to carry out this section. 

6 (h) CONSULTATION.—The Working Group shall con7 sult, as appropriate, with representatives of the various 

8 exchanges, clearinghouses, self-regulatory bodies, other 

9 major market participants, consumers, and the general 

10 public. 

11 SEC. 4. STUDY OF REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY 

12 MARKETS. 

13 (a) STUDY.—The Working Group shall conduct a 

14 study— 

15 (1) to identify the factors that affect the pricing 

16 of crude oil and refined petroleum products, includ17 ing an examination of the effects of market specula18 tion on prices; and 

19 (2) to review and assess— 

20 (A) existing statutory authorities relating 

21 to the oversight and regulation of markets crit22 ical to the energy security of the United States; 

23 and 

24 (B) the need for additional statutory au25 thority for the Federal Government to effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 May 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1420.IS S1420

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1 tively oversee and regulate markets critical to 

2 the energy security of the United States. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS OF STUDY.—The study shall in4 clude— 

5 (1) an examination of price formation of crude 

6 oil and refined petroleum products; 

7 (2) an examination of relevant international 

8 regulatory regimes; and 

9 (3) an examination of the degree to which 

10 changes in energy market transparency, liquidity, 

11 and structure have influenced or driven abuse, ma12 nipulation, excessive speculation, or inefficient price 

13 formation. 

14 (c) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Sec15 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Nat16 ural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on En17 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives quar18 terly progress reports during the conduct of the study 

19 under this section, and a final report not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, that— 

21 (1) describes the results of the study; and 

22 (2) provides options and the recommendations 

23 of the Working Group for appropriate Federal co24 ordination of oversight and regulatory actions to en25 sure transparency of crude oil and refined petroleum 


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1 product pricing and the elimination of excessive 

2 speculation, including recommendations on data col3 lection and analysis to be carried out by the Finan4 cial Market Analysis Office established by section 

5 205(p) of the Department of Energy Organization 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 7135(p)). 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec9 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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