Seeking Common Ground on Oil Market Drivers*

As part of their remit covering joint activities set out in the Cancun Ministerial declaration of March 2010, the IEA, IEF and OPEC jointly hosted their second annual workshop on linkages between physical and financial oil markets in Vienna on 29 November 2011. Over 100 participants attended from across the spectrum of research institutions, major oil producers and consumers, the financial sector, regulators and policy makers. Participants reviewed recent studies on commodity price formation, the role of price reporting agencies, developments in regulatory reform in the energy derivatives markets, and emerging issues and key challenges. A full joint report on the workshop will be provided to IEF Ministers ahead of their next meeting in Kuwait in March 2012. The following represents the IEA’s version of key take-aways from the Vienna event.

Regulation beyond Mandate?*

In a contentious 3-2 vote on 18 October, the US CFTC Commissioners approved final rules on federal speculative positions limits on commodity futures, options and swaps positions of speculators for 28 commodities. These include NYMEX natural gas, crude oil, gasoline and heating oil, along with a number of metals and grains contracts.