WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Tuesday at a press conference that Attorney General Eric Holder will reconstitute the Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group to probe the rising prices at the gas pumps around the nation.
The move comes amid a consensus that speculation is what has driven the cost of a gallon of gasoline up 42 cents from the beginning of January to the end of February when the average retail price per gallon of gasoline jumped from $3.30 to $3.72.
Obama did not detail when the group will report its findings or just what the panel would do. The group was created in 2011 to root out speculators who buy and sell oil futures based on the predicted price of oil. The task force, which has met bout a half dozen times, has been helping the Federal Trade Commission investigate gas prices since June 2011.
Oil speculation is generally legal unless the investor has relied on insider information.
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