Parliamentary panel to debate oil markets

By Jane Merriman

LONDON (Reuters) - A parliamentary panel will on Tuesday join in the debate on why oil prices are at record levels above $145 a barrel and whether speculators have played a role.

The Treasury Committee will grill economists, executives from electronic exchange ICE Futures Europe and officials from the regulator the Financial Services Authority.

The hearing illustrates growing pressure on politicians to take action over record oil prices, which have caused protests from consumers around the world.

In the United States, there is already a raft of bills in Congress seeking to limit speculation in oil futures markets that some blame for driving up prices.

The U.S. commodity market regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has taken steps to extend some of its rules to a contract in U.S. crude oil traded on ICE Futures Europe, which is regulated by the FSA.

"We have agreed to have U.S.-style regulation of that contract," said a spokeswoman for the ICE. She said this still had to be approved by the FSA.

The CFTC rules would impose trading limits on the U.S. crude oil contract traded on ICE's electronic platform.

This contract has been described in the United States as the "London loophole," because it allows trading in U.S. crude oil futures to take place outside U.S. rules.