Changes in regulation, or even lack of regulation isn't the real point here. The world oil market is too big to manipulate consistently in one direction over time, by Exxon Mobil, or company like Enron, or futures traders even if there wasn't a single regulation covering it.
If the Saudis really are sitting on oil and refusing to deliver it below a certain price that is above the market clearing rate than they (or OPEC generally) could be considered to be in a certain way, manipulating the market, and they, in certain scenarios, do have the ability to control supply enough to seriously raise the price, but that has nothing to do with regulation (US regulations wouldn't really be effective against OPEC anyway), but simply keeping supply off the market. That isn't what is normally talked about when people talk about market manipulation, and if that is what's happening cracking down on speculators won't help at all. |
