WASHINGTON — Federal regulators said Tuesday they will place stricter limits on foreign exchanges that trade U.S. oil as concerns continue to grow about the role of speculation in rising fuel prices. Some lawmakers said the move was long overdue.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it will require the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange to adopt position limits used in the U.S. for the trading of the West Texas Intermediary crude- oil contract, which is linked to a similar contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 60 cents to settle at $134.01 a barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday, still up nearly 35 percent since the beginning of the year.
Under the agreement, foreign officials will share daily trading data with U.S. authorities and report violations when they are uncovered. Previously, they shared data on a weekly basis.
“Why didn’t we do this nine to 10 months ago when things first appeared to be moving faster than usual?” asked Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., at a hearing to assess the agency’s performance. “The sense of urgency on the street seems to be different from the sense of the bureaucracy. We need to match that urgency.”
Meanwhile, Kuwait join ed Saudi Arabia in calling oil prices excessive.
Kuwait Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shimali said a reasonable price would be “more or less $100.”
Kuwait will be among the oil-producing nations at a summit Sunday convened by Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, to help stabilize prices.
