CFTC probes oil futures trades ahead of Trump Iran policy shifts

EditorLouis Juricic
Published 04/15/2026, 02:19 PM
CFTC probes oil futures trades ahead of Trump Iran policy shifts

Investing.com -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating suspiciously timed trades in the oil futures market that occurred before recent policy announcements by President Donald Trump regarding the war in Iran, according to a report from Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

The CFTC is examining trading of oil futures contracts on platforms operated by CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE), the people said. Both exchanges were asked to provide data to support the investigation.

The probe focuses on at least two instances over approximately two weeks where trading volumes increased shortly before major announcements, the people said. The CFTC requested Tag 50 identifications from the exchanges, which reveal the entities behind the trades.

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The price of crude has very little to do with supply and demand.
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