Amidst a confluence of factors presently putting a strain on the travel industry, the rising and unstable price of oil has played a leading role. September saw a record-high oil price spike of more than $25 a barrel, exceeding the previous record of a $10 jump set in June of this year. And although oil has once again dropped to $100 a barrel, the cost increase over last year is undeniably significant; reaffirming the presence of oil speculators interfering in the market, despite warnings from Congress.

According to James C. May, President and CEO of the Air Transport Association (ATA), whose members transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic, "the market's extreme volatility suggests that speculators, who withdrew tens of billions of dollars from the commodities markets when Congress threatened to tighten oversight of excessive and harmful speculation, breathed a sigh of relief last week when action in the Senate seemed unlikely and returned to the energy markets in full force."

In an effort to put a halt to oil speculation, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the bipartisan H.R. 6644 bill to suppress excessive speculation in energy futures. This legislation would empower the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to set position limits on over-the-counter energy trades, providing for greater transparency in the energy market. 

“This bill offers a common-sense solution for speculation reform, ultimately reducing record-high oil prices and saving American businesses hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Bill Connors, NBTA Executive Director & COO. “NBTA urges the Senate to consider the same provision in its energy bill and looks forward to a reformed energy policy that limits excessive speculation.”

NBTA this year joined ATA and a number of airlines and other concerned travel industry segment organizations to form the Coalition to Stop Oil Speculation (S.O.S.) NOW. With the intention of lowering energy costs for American families and businesses, S.O.S. NOW urges the U.S. government to crack down on oil speculators who manipulate oil prices for profit, resulting in irregular price jumps and undue stress on the economy.

Speculation and increasingly high oil prices, which have tripled in the past five years, have affected not only individual travelers, but all parties involved, including major airlines, companies that rely on business travel, and other travel and tourism industry segments.

“The strain we are seeing here is not about one family having to cancel their vacation,” said Connors, “It’s about an entire economy, and you can’t grow the American economy without an effective, efficient air transport system. We’re concerned that the commerce of America is not going to be conducted competitively if oil prices continue to go where they’re going.”

To learn more about oil speculation and what you can do to stop it, visit S.O.S. NOW: http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/