NEWS FLASH

Oil Market Regulator: Consumers Are Paying A ‘Wall Street Speculative Premium’ For Gas | Bart Chilton, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the federal regulator charged with overseeing commodities markets, including oil — said in a speech yesterday that consumers are paying more for gas due to excessive speculation.”Everyone at the pump is actually paying premium, at least in the U.S., a Wall Street speculative premium,” he said. “I think there’s good evidence that excessive speculation is heating up the market and prices have gotten out of line as a result.” Under the Dodd-Frank law, the CFTC was given the ability to rein in excessive speculation in the oil markets, but it has yet to act. (HT: Cate Long)