Feds Probing Oil Markets, Journal Says

Federal regulators disclosed a sweeping probe into U.S. oil-market trading and said they were expanding surveillance of energy markets, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in an unusual move, disclosed that it has an investigation in progress of oil markets, as crude is at all-time highs at about $130 a barrel, the Journal said in a front-page story.

Congress, under fire from constituents over the soaring prices, has been pressuring regulators to crack down on price manipulation, as oil companies’ profits reach all-time highs, the paper reported.

One CTFC commissioner told the Journal that the body is “deeply investigating” any potential abuse in oil trading, the Journal said.