Excessive Speculation In The Natural Gas Market (Day Two)

On July 9, 2007, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held the second day of hearings on Excessive Speculation In The Natural Gas Market. (The first hearing was held Monday, June 25th, at which the Subcommittee released a Staff Report on the Subcommittee investigation and received testimony from natural gas users, academics, and a former natural gas trader at Amaranth. A witness list for the June 25th hearing is available at the June 25th hearing website.) The Subcommittee July 9th hearing continued to examined the reasons for the extreme price levels and volatility in the natural gas futures markets in 2006 and how excessive speculation by a single hedge fund, Amaranth LLC, dominated the natural gas market and distorted natural gas futures prices. The hearing also examined the extent to which excessive speculative trading on unregulated energy exchanges contributed to the price distortions, and the need for statutory and regulatory changes to prevent manipulation and excessive speculation from detrimentally affecting energy prices.