Market speculates that the US Department of the Treasury has taken action! President of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange: If the US intervenes in crude oil futures, it will result in "disastrous consequences"

As tensions between the US and Iran continue to push up oil prices, speculation is spreading in the energy trading circle regarding whether the US government has quietly intervened in the crude oil futures market. The CEO of the world's largest derivatives exchange, CME Group, immediately issued a warning. Terry Duffy, CEO of CME Group, bluntly stated at an industry conference this week that if the Trump administration tries to suppress oil prices by intervening in the futures market, it will face a "biblical disaster." He warned that US government intervention in the pricing of commodities would seriously erode market confidence. He emphasized that once investors have doubts about the fairness of the market in key commodity pricing, the consequences will be difficult to estimate. CME Group operates the core exchange for US crude oil futures, and the head of the company issuing a warning about potential government intervention is rare in the industry, reflecting a high level of alertness to policy uncertainty in the current market. According to reports citing sources familiar with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Department has not intervened in the oil market. Last week, Wall Street saw news mentioned that the US Treasury Department is evaluating several schemes to lower oil prices, including direct intervention in the futures market. On Monday, Brent crude prices surged to nearly $120 per barrel before quickly reversing and falling to above $80, causing widespread speculation among energy traders about whether the US Treasury Department has quietly entered the market. Large, unusual transactions have sparked speculation, with consulting agencies unable to completely rule out Treasury Department intervention. This week, there have been several large, unidentified trades in the oil market, prompting energy traders and consulting agencies to search for the buyers or sellers behind them. Tim Skirrow, head of derivatives at Energy Aspects, said the agency has been receiving client inquiries all week, asking if the recent series of unusually large transactions were led by the US government. Skirrow said: Our clients have been asking who the large sellers are, and the market speculates that the sellers may come from the US Treasury Department. He also pointed out that the US government has previously intervened in other markets such as foreign exchange, making such speculation not entirely unfounded.