6 Million Barrels in Two Minutes Draws CFTC Scrutiny
6 Million Barrels in Two Minutes Draws CFTC Scrutiny Proposed renewable energy reforms threaten… Julianne Geiger is a veteran energy journalist and market analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the global oil and gas sector.
Her… Oil traders sold futures equivalent to at least 6 million barrels of crude in just two minutes on March 23, shortly before President Donald Trump backed away from threats to strike Iranian power plants.
Now, the federal regulator overseeing those trades says it has been looking into the activity.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig said Friday that the agency's enforcement division has been examining oil trading during the Iran war, including the unusual surge preceding Trump's announcement.
"Our enforcement division has been looking at all these trades," Selig told Bloomberg Television.
"We take this stuff very seriously." The March 23 selling involved Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures.
Trading volume during the two-minute window was more than 8.5 times the volume recorded during the same period over the preceding week, according to Bloomberg.
The timing has raised questions about whether some traders had advance knowledge of Trump's plans.
Oil markets have been particularly sensitive to presidential announcements since the Iran war began in February, with threats of military strikes and subsequent reversals capable of triggering sharp price swings.
The March 23 trades weren't the only unusual activity.
Bloomberg previously reported several spikes in oil trading volumes ahead of major Trump announcements this spring, raising concerns about the possible use of nonpublic information.
Selig did not identify any traders involved or disclose whether investigators had uncovered evidence of wrongdoing.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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