US commodities regulator the Commodities Future Trading Commission  (CFTC) has launched begun to investigate possible market manipulation in the US crude oil market amid record oil prices and oil company profits. This from The Daily Telegraph:

The Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC), working closely with other international regulators including the Financial Services Authority in the UK, has begun a series of detailed inquiries over concerns that energy speculators are behind the rising oil price.

Oil company profits came under the spotlight yesterday as Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee strove to ‘take on’ the record profits of oil companies. This from The New York Times:

Such showdowns between lawmakers and oil titans have become a familiar routine on Capitol Hill. But with gas prices nearing $4 a gallon, and lawmakers headed home for a weeklong Memorial Day recess where they expect to get an earful from angry constituents, there is added urgency for Congress to appear active.

Oil company profits are under threat if Barack Obama makes it to office, reports Bloomberg. An aide to Obama described the oil companies profits as “remarkable.”

The plan would target profit from the biggest oil companies by taxing each barrel of oil costing more than $80, according to a fact sheet on the proposal. The tax would help pay for a $1,000 tax cut for working families, an expansion of the earned- income tax credit and assistance for people who can’t afford their energy bills.