Washington (Platts)--12Nov2010/947 am EST/1447 GMT

      
G-20 leaders in South Korea Friday called for increased surveillance of
the global oil market, new reports aimed at reducing oil price volatility and
for governments worldwide to pay more attention to regulation and supervision
of commodity derivative markets.

     In a document released following the G-20 summit in Seoul, leaders
identified fossil fuel price volatility as one of the few issues they have
agreed to address.

     "We recognize the importance of a well-functioning and transparent market
in oil for world economic growth," the leaders wrote.

     In this document, the leaders called on the International Energy Forum,
the International Energy Agency, OPEC and the International Organization of
Securities Commissions to issue a report on oil prices by April. The report
will examine "how the oil spot market prices are assessed by oil price
reporting agencies and how this affects the transparency and functioning of
oil markets."

     G20 leaders also called on these international groups to issue a report
on how to improve the Joint Oil Data Initiative Database and another report
"highlighting their respective outlooks and their short, medium and long-term
forecasts for oil market supply and demand."

     "We welcome their ongoing work on the linkages between oil physical and
financial markets," the G-20 leaders wrote.

     The leaders also pressed IOSCO to "further monitor" the oil OTC markets
and report to the Financial Stability Board by April potential changes to
these markets including "improved regulation and enhanced transparency of the
oil financial market," according to the document.

     Leaders also reaffirmed need to phase out "inefficient fossil fuel
subsidies" and identified further regulation and supervision of commodity
derivative markets as an area of future work for G-20 leaders. The leaders
asked an IOSCO task force on commodity futures markets for recommendations by
April on what measures should be taken in these markets.

     During the summit, leaders recommitted to financial reform, even as they
recognized that certain governments were at different points in instituting
these reforms in their home countries.

     "It is essential that we fully implement the new standards and
principles, in a way that ensures a level playing field, a race to the top and
avoids fragmentation of markets, protectionism and regulatory arbitrage," the
leaders wrote.

		--Brian Scheid, brian_scheid@platts.com

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