Of course, that is the simple version. But isn’t it curious that a U.K. business airline discloses it’s going under due to skyrocketing fuel costs just as U.S. regulators announce a sweeping, nationwide probe into the energy markets that control the global price of oil? A look at what’s being done, whether it’s already too late and why everybody always wants to blame the speculators. (As one big time oil trader recently told Trader Daily, “When oil prices tanked in the 1980s, they blamed that on us, too.”)

U.S. regulators disclosed a broad nationwide probe into potential oil-market manipulation and said they are expanding surveillance of energy markets.

The move Thursday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including its unusual announcement of an investigation in progress, comes after crude-oil prices topped $130 a barrel last week and tested all-time highs. On Thursday, light, sweet crude for July delivery settled $4.41, or 3.4%, lower at $126.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Lawmakers in Congress have been pressing regulators to crack down on manipulation, as politicians seek to demonstrate ahead of the fall elections that they are responding to soaring gasoline prices.

"It's important that people who are paying high gas prices understand the CFTC is on the case and that we're closely monitoring and in this instance deeply investigating any potential abuse in this important energy market," said Bart Chilton, a CFTC commissioner.

Many economists and oil-industry executives say possible shenanigans by market traders have little or nothing to do with the high price of oil. They maintain that the rise is mainly due to fundamental factors such as rising demand, constrained supplies and the weak dollar.

Still, suspicions have lingered that speculators have helped drive oil prices higher. At a series of congressional hearings over the past month, energy consumer groups and some financial insiders have contended that large investments in commodity futures by hedge funds and pension funds are distorting prices.

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