Oil Soars Past $122; Regulators Considering More Oversight

With oil soaring to new records — crude surged past $122 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time — federal regulators are considering stricter regulation of the oil industry, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The Federal Trade Commission last week said it would examine such things as withholding supplies from the market as it prepares to write rules aimed at banning manipulation, the paper said.

Crude oil reached a record $122.73 in intraday Nymex trading on Tuesday before settling at a record $121.84, the Associated Press reported.

Acting under authority granted in a 2007 energy law, the FTC may extend its reach to oil-trading markets, competing with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the traditional overseer of energy markets, the Journal reported.