Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee members.
It's a bit of an illustration here and perhaps provides the basis for my first question to Mr. MacLean.
Thank you very much, sir, for being here today. I appreciate it. Your years of experience will certainly come in handy.
This article points out that one particular company, Vitol, a Swiss company, was able to activate almost 11% of all the actual shares of crude oil on a particular day, June 6, which saw crude rise by $11 in a given day to $138.54, unprecedented, certainly, for market analysts concerned.
Mr. MacLean, you didn't touch on the issue of contango. It's terminology that is not familiar to most, but it really deals with the fact that supply and demand fundamentals can be set aside in favour of this constant belief that prices will rise, obviously predicated on what's happening in the BRIC countries, the Brazils, the Russias, the Indias, and the Chinas.
I'm wondering, given the recent changes to the rules by which people can trade on NYMEX--basically and essentially over-the-counter trades in the evening, intraday, whenever they wish--and with respect to the changes that have been allowed to take place at the request of companies, such as Enron in the past, do you not believe, sir, that there is a large, more preponderant activity that has never been seen before that may have had an undue interest or influence on driving these prices up to where they are today?