Regulators are accusing the defendants of making 19 separate attempts at market manipulation in March 2007, involving three specific Nymex contracts — for light sweet crude oil, for heating oil delivered to New York Harbor and for gasoline, also for New York delivery.
At least five attempts were successful, according to the complaint. In three instances, it said, the illegal trading pushed prices of all three commodities lower, while the other two resulted in higher prices for gasoline and crude oil.
Firm Said to Manipulate Oil Market
By DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Commodity regulators in Washington have accused a Dutch trading company of making roughly $1 million in illegal profits by manipulating the prices of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline over an 11-day period last year.
In audiotapes uncovered in their investigation, regulators said one defendant described the scheme as an effort to “bully the market” by making a large number of trades at or near the end of the trading day to move closing prices.
The lawsuit is certain to resonate loudly in Washington, where the Senate is in the midst of debating proposals to tackle high oil prices by curbing market speculation and where lawmakers have repeatedly demanded tougher enforcement measures.
Moreover, unlike many manipulation cases, this one accuses the defendants of actually succeeding in moving prices that are used as benchmarks for consumer markets — a remarkable claim in markets widely considered too big to be bullied.
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