ATLANTA, Jan.

The dramatic surge in oil prices -- including a $16-per-barrel jump in just two days last week -- has left Washington regulators scrambling to exert new oversight on futures trading in oil and other commodities. The U.S.

By Dan Caterinicchia WASHINGTON - Federal regulators are six months into a wide- ranging investigation of U.S. oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation.

By BILL CONDIE THE global oil industry faces turbulence as Opec ministers gather in Nigeria today, and British majors BP and Shell face difficulties.

By Barry Shlachter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Sep. 30--Federal regulators on Thursday charged that an Ohio broker created profits topping $1 million by conspiring with two mammoth Nebraska feedlots to manipulate futures trading through "sham" sales of 4,500 beef cattle two years ago.