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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Mark Longietti |
  
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Longietti: Resolution urging Congress to investigate oil price manipulation
receives unanimous support from Pa. House energy committee
HARRISBURG, June 17 – A resolution introduced by Pennsylvania state Rep. Mark Longietti, D-Mercer, that would encourage the federal government to look into possible oil price manipulation was approved unanimously by the state House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on Tuesday.
Longietti said his resolution (H.R. 788) would urge Congress to investigate the role of speculation in the oil commodity market as a root cause of the spikes in oil prices across the country. He said as the U.S. dollar devalues, institutional investors are investing more in commodities as a hedge to inflation, which could be playing a major role in the record high prices in the oil market and could be the leading cause of rising oil prices unrelated to supply and demand.
"I am pleased that my colleagues serving on the House Energy Committee support this resolution and are eager to find out the role of speculators in the price of oil in the commodities market," Longietti said. "Over the last few years the trends have been startling in terms of the shift in investment when it comes to oil. The price of oil on the commodity market rose 13 percent last week alone. A public investigation is warranted and would be highly productive in learning more about what could be causing the record prices of oil."
When introducing the resolution last week, Longietti referenced an article in USA Today titled "Institutional Investors Cited in Rising Oil Prices," revealing that billions of dollars have been invested in commodities speculation, including crude oil. The article stated that from 2003 to 2008, index speculators have risen from $13 billion to $260 billion through March 2008. Longietti said these alarming numbers alone should warrant a federal public investigation because it is clear that the precipitous rise in oil prices is concurrent with the increased activity of speculators in the commodities market.
"This resolution does not hold any weight of law but it does represent a clear bipartisan voice to our federal government that we are not going to ignore the signs that commodities' speculators could be the root problem of the rising fuel prices," Longietti said. "It is one of the few ways that we, as a state legislature, can act to deal with rising gas prices."
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