????這個十年之前，從未聽說過原油價格一天內會暴漲幾美元，除非美國實施貿易禁運或即將參戰。而且即使到了這種地步，油價也沒有高到難以承受的水平（回想一下，2003年3月伊拉克戰爭打響前的整個月油價都沒超過38美元/桶，更不要說100美元了。）

????然而，如今天下太平，我們看到的油價波動幅度卻讓昔日戰爭時期的上漲也相形見絀。盡管美國石油學會（American Petroleum Institute）6月份的公告顯示，美國石油供應達到了30多年來的高點，但油價一天內猛漲2美元/桶（包括周二）的情形已司空見慣。

????背后的原因到底何在？這已經成為不下十幾個政府部門的燙手山芋，包括美國司法部（U.S. Department of Justice）、全美州際檢察長協會（National Association of Attorneys General）、美國商品期貨交易委員會（Commodity Futures Trading Commission）、聯邦調查局（Federal Bureau of Investigation）、聯邦能源監管委員會（Federal Energy Regulatory Commission）、國土安全部（Department of Homeland Security）、聯邦貿易委員會（Federal Trade Commission）、財政部（Department of the Treasury）、聯邦儲備委員會（Federal Reserve Board）、證券交易委員會（Securities and Exchange Commission）、農業部（Department of Agriculture），當然能源部（Department of Energy）也位列其中。

????雖然各路精英對于過去十年油價為何會暴漲630%各持己見（到底是因為投機因素還是因為基本面推動?），有一個事實勿庸置疑：容易開采的油田越來越少，持續推高油價。忽視這一點，無論是對我們的消費者，還是對美國國家安全都不是什么好消息。

????華盛頓的說辭一如既往地洋洋灑灑，也一如既往地毫無作用。一趟趟的調查、一撥撥的工作組和種種質詢沒有任何結果，即便這些調查可能持續幾年，花掉納稅人大把的銀子。注意，最近有幾位參議員乃至奧巴馬總統都親自過問，對此事施壓。

????華盛頓州民主黨參議員瑪利亞?坎特維爾在兩周前的一次參議院聽證會上發問，希望了解美國司法部大力宣揚的油氣價格欺詐工作組（Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group）的工作進展；除了上面列出的很多聯邦政府機構，該工作組還包括州一級的監管機構。美國司法部確實承諾將“監控油氣市場，發現可能存在的刑事或民事犯罪行為，防止消費者權益受到非法侵害”，但它一直避而不談具體做法。坎特維爾一直以對能源市場的強硬立場而著稱，當初她還是一名資歷尚淺的參議員，就已經同安然（Enron）展開了較量。她曾經指出，這一丑聞證明“惡劣的市場操縱行為的的確確存在”。

????今年4月，這個司法部工作組在奧巴馬總統授意下成立，但此后一直沒什么動靜。這令人失望，因為司法部是聯邦政府中僅有的少數幾個按法律規定、有權將嫌犯繩之以法并送入監獄的部門之一——這不同于民事違法，民事違法只需接受罰款（而且通常支付的罰款額也遠低于他們違法所得）。“我們鼓勵政府部門間加強正式和非正式的溝通，以及信息共享，”司法部的一位發言人稱。“迄今為止，還沒有認定存在民事或刑事欺詐的案例。”

????信息共享？采取這樣的策略后，違法者最好小心著點。

????Before this decade, it was unheard of for crude oil prices to jump a few dollars a day unless the U.S. was under a trade embargo or about to go to war. And even then, the outright price of oil was hardly prohibitive (recall that for the entire month leading up to the Iraq war in March 2003, oil did not cross $38 a barrel, let alone $100).

????Yet today, without a major media event in sight, we witness price swings that would put the wartime spikes of yesteryear to shame. Despite the American Petroleum Institute's pronouncement in June that oil supplies in the U.S. hit a high not seen in more than three decades, the two-buck oil price pop – including today's – is now seen as commonplace.

????Why? It has become a nettlesome question for no fewer than a dozen government departments and agencies, among them the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Association of Attorneys General, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Agriculture and, of course, the Department of Energy.

????While intelligent minds may differ as to why oil prices have risen as much as 630% over the past decade – speculation or fundamentals? – one fact is no longer up for debate: a shift seems to have taken place in oil-patch tectonics that's keeping prices propped up. And the cost of ignoring it does not bode well for consumers or our national security.

????The rhetoric offered by Washington has been as impressive as it has been ineffectual, with a flurry of investigations, working groups and general inquiries coming up empty, even as they stretch for years into the future, racking up taxpayer dollars. Taking note, a handful of senators and even President Obama have recently ramped up the pressure.

????Maria Cantwell, Democratic senator from Washington state, advanced questions during a Senate hearing two weeks ago meant to ascertain the progress of the Department of Justice's much-touted Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group, which involves many of the agencies listed above, in addition to state authorities. Pledging to "monitor oil and gas markets for potential violations of criminal or civil laws to safeguard against unlawful consumer harm," the DOJ has sought to uncover unlawful activity in the energy market, though it has shied away from explaining exactly how. Cantwell is known for her strong positions on energy market issues after tangling with Enron while still a junior senator. The scandal, she has noted, proved "that fierce market manipulation does happen."

????Since it formed in April at the behest of President Obama, very little has been heard from the DOJ working group. This is disappointing, as the DOJ is one of the only arms of the federal government with the statutory power to bring suspects to justice and imprison them, as opposed to civil offenders, who are simply fined (and usually pay much less than they profited in breaking the law.) "We are encouraging an increase in communication, both formal and informal, and information-sharing among the government agencies," a DOJ spokeswoman says. "So far, there have been no particular cases of finding fraud, civil or criminal."

????Information-sharing? With tactics like that, offenders better watch out.