Part of the focus Thursday in Congress on energy issues will be the role that speculators are playing in oil futures trading, and whether that is forcing up oil prices more than usual.
Both parties have pointed the blame at speculators, but identifying them for the purpose of verbally burning them at the stake has been a bit more difficult.
Once again, the spotlight will be on the acting head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Walter Lukken.
Lukken has not bought into the argument that speculators are running amok in the futures markets.
"Currently it's difficult to find a smoking gun," Lukken said last month at a Senate hearing.
House Democrats want to produce legislation that would toughen regulations on oil futures trades before leaving on a summer break in early August, but the legislative details have not been easily ironed out.
While I was writing this blog entry, an email popped into my Inbox from Air Tran Airlines on the issue of oil prices and speculation. That was followed by the exact same missive from the CEO of Delta.
In an "Open Letter To All Airline Customers," twelve airline CEO's called for Congressional action on the speculation front, saying "regulatory limits have been eased or removed" on oil trades.
"Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab," the airline letter stated.
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