Deepen

Federal regulators’ oversight of over-the-counter (OTC) energy futures would deepen significantly under a sweeping financial regulatory reform plan unveiled by President Obama Wednesday.

In the waning day of the Clinton administration, Chairman FrankMurkowski (R-AK) and four other Republican members of the SenateEnergy and Natural Resources Committee have called on the presidentto refrain from enacting regulations that could put off limits evenmore federal lands for natural gas and oil producers. Such actionwould only aggravate the current gas price and supply crisis, theysaid.