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There are some experts who believe that the ebb and flow of natural gas prices have little to do with the laws of supply and demand. To them, it seems to matter not what the OPEC cartel sets as a production level for oil or the severity of winters and summers, much less the amount of natural gas in reserves. They (these experts) claim that natural gas price fluctuations are more determined by artificial indices propagated by those involved in what might be illegal trading of the commodity.
Apparently, a Wall Street Journal article earlier this year, on this possibility, in part, triggered enough members of Congress to investigate the issue and subsequently introduce legislation that would help regulate the variances in natural gas prices due to the speculative marketplace.
The congressional investigation aims to explore how federal agencies monitor trades, and if possible, identify the agents and motivations behind the alleged illegal trading.
The WSI article said one factor behind last year's $6 billion failure of Amaranth Advisors LLC, Greenwich, Conn., a hedge fund,...