By Moming Zhou
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - The U.S. futures trading regulator said Friday it is looking into the trading activities of the biggest oil exchange-traded fund when it earlier this month moved its positions to the next-month oil futures contract.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Thursday that its enforcement staff is investigating the United States Oil Fund LP (USO) and other market participants regarding the Feb. 6 "roll", or sale of the expiring front-month oil contract and purchase of the successive month's contract.
"I want to reassure the public that the CFTC takes seriously issues surrounding price movements in our nation's vital energy markets," said Stephen Obie, acting director of the CFTC's Division of Enforcement, in a statement.
The CFTC's probe into the fund illuminates the growing clout of commodities ETFs. Their size means they are no longer just a passive investment reflecting prices but sometimes can move markets.
USO spokeswoman Katie Rooney said the fund had not head from anyone at CFTC enforcement as of Friday morning.
"To the extent that there is any such investigation, United State Oil Fund, LP and its affiliates will fully cooperate," she said in an emailed statement, adding USO "puts a high value on compliance with applicable laws and regulations since an orderly and transparent market instills confidence in our investors."
On Feb. 6, March oil futures, the front-month contract at the time, lost more than 2% in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as USO rolled its holdings into the April oil contract. Prices in the March contract slid below $40 a barrel in the next trading session for the first time in three weeks.
Some investors believed the selling of USO, which held about 20% of all March contracts, contributed to the price downturn.
Unlike SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), which holds physical gold, USO buys oil futures contracts on the Nymex and ICE Futures Europe. When the front-month contract expires, USO has to move to the next-month contract by selling the expiring one and buying the next one.
USO had been doing the roll-over in just one day, a challenge for the fund to move such a big holding in one single trading session. The ETF said recently it will change its procedure and use four days for the roll-over.
USO will start its next roll-over in March 6, according to the fund's Web site.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the probe earlier Friday.
In Friday's trading, crude oil lost 4% to $43.43.