Obama Seeks to “Suppress” the Markets to Curb Speculation in Rising Fuel
The U.S. President Barack Obama today announced a plan to “suppress” the speculation in oil markets, which provides further sanctions on the illegal practices and to strengthen monitoring, in order to curb the rise in gasoline in country.
“We can not allow a situation where speculators artificially manipulate the markets” in order to obtain “a quick profit,” said Obama in an appearance in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Currently the average price of a gallon (3.78 liters) of gasoline in the U.S. is around four dollars and that is rising as an “additional tax” for citizens, stated the president.
The Republicans, on the campaign for the November presidential election, accused the government of doing nothing to curb the rising price of gasoline.
The White House intends to your plan that will be sent to Congress for approval, limit the ability of speculators to take unfair advantage of the volatility of oil prices.
Obama has promised that his government will do “everything possible to ensure that a few irresponsible not capable of harming consumers illegally manipulating the energy markets to their advantage.”
The initiative now includes a funding request by $ 52 million for Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the U.S., to strengthen its surveillance capability.
It also raises an increase in civil and criminal penalties against market manipulation in oil futures.
As Obama explained, these sanctions will harden and will apply not only rape, but by every day to prolong the illegal practice.
The Government also argues that the CFTC raise the minimum amount of money that should guarantee transactions in energy markets.
Obama has again blamed rising global oil prices to instability in the Middle East and the growing demand in countries like China and India.
He clarified that there is no “quick fixes” and none of the actions outlined will make lower gasoline in the U.S. “the overnight”.
The United States consumes more than 20 percent of global oil and only 2 percent of global reserves, recalled Obama.
In this context, the President vowed to continue the energy policy that has been launched to try to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, which plans to increase exploration and exploitation in the country and promote clean energy.
Category: Business News
