Regulator: Oil speculators 'tapping the gas pedal'

A member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission says he believes Wall Street speculators are adding to upward pressure on oil and gasoline prices, reviving a debate over Wall Street's role that raged during the 2008 price surges.

"I'm not suggesting that speculators are the cruise control on gas and oil prices, but I think they're tapping the gas pedal," Bart Chilton, one of the commissioners, told MSNBC Wednesday evening.

He said the commission is examining the issue.

"We have a historic high of supply and fairly stable demand. So when you say, 'Why are prices rising?' it gives credence to the issue that speculators may be having a big influence," he said.

Chilton also reiterated his view that the growth of speculative trading helped send oil prices to record highs — the $145 a barrel range — in the summer of 2008.

But Chilton emphasized that speculators are not the main reason why oil prices have recently surged to more than $100 a barrel, the highest price in more than two years.

"I'm not suggesting that they are driving it. Certainly the Middle East and other issues are having some impact, also," he said.

Last year's Wall Street reform law requires regulators to set limits on the size of speculative positions that traders may take in commodities markets.

"We need these position limits in place and we need them soon," Chilton said.