Obama Calls on Congress for More Regulation of Oil Markets

President Obama urged Congress to bolster federal supervision of oil markets, including bigger penalties for market manipulation and more power for regulators, Bloomberg reported.

The president asked Congress to fund a six-fold increase for surveillance and enforcement staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to put “more cops on the beat” overseeing oil markets, Bloomberg said.

The U.S. government last year sued several oil traders in the U.S. and Australia over oil market manipulation.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the government already has all the tools it needs in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission if Obama believes the market is being manipulated, Bloomberg said.