ATA Backs Oil-Market Investigation

American Trucking Associations said Wednesday that it supports the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for taking steps toward increasing transparency of the energy futures markets.

ATA believes the move will help to ensure that petroleum prices are once again driven by supply and demand, the group said in a statement.

The CFTC disclosed a sweeping probe into U.S. oil-market trading last week, saying it was expanding its surveillance of energy markets, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The regulatory body also said it will improve oversight of the energy futures market by expanding the amount and quality of information received from energy traders.

ATA said it has repeatedly asked the federal government to address the increased speculation in the petroleum futures markets, and that it believes that balancing the need for an efficient petroleum market with the desire to limit petroleum speculation “could help burst the bubble that has formed in the petroleum markets.”