Abstract

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") has adopted new rules regarding market manipulation in the petroleum marketplace ("Petroleum Market Manipulation Rule"). The rules are unlikely to require significant changes in conduct for U.S. petroleum industry players, but market participants should be aware that private plaintiff lawsuits occasioned by the rule are likely to change the risk profile of the industry. The FTC has spent decades examining the petroleum industry. Perhaps no other U.S. federal agency is more qualified to opine on the state of competition in that ...