Experts agree speculation in the market has a big impact on the price of commodities such as oil and gas. One U.S. senator calls some of that speculation "excessive" and has introduced a bill to stop it.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich, recently introduced the "Close the Enron Loophole Act" that he claims would help prevent price manipulation and excessive speculation that leads to "high energy prices for U.S. consumers."

According to the bill, the "Enron Loophole" is a provision inserted into the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 at the request of Enron and other large energy traders.

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When Levin introduced the bill, he said the loophole "makes it impossible for regulators to prevent major price distortions in U.S. energy markets.

"There's language in the (Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000) that basically permits certain electronic transactions to go unsupervised," said Sherri Cabrera, director of legislative affairs with the Petroleum Marketers Association of America.

Cabrera believes Levin's bill would help to regulate those transactions and in turn that would stop unfair price manipulation.

Most experts believe the current price of crude oil more than $96 a barrel does not reflect the fundamentals of supply and demand. Levin said his bill would help to make sure the price of oil and other energy prices better reflect the actual supply and demand.

Stephen Schork, publisher of "The Schork Report," a newsletter for the oil industry, said he thinks Congress should be very cautious when it comes to regulating the market further.

"Instead of having a surgical approach, Washington is going to do what Washington does best, they're going to take a shotgun to it," he said.

Schork said too much regulation in the market could prevent oil producing companies and other energy companies from increasing their production in advance of an increase in demand.

Spokespeople for U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the Congress members have not yet been able to study the bill since it has only been introduced and is still early in the legislative process.