Hmm, perhaps it is just Canada then. I thought there was stricter regulation around commodities trading in the US as well. In Canada we do have some regulation around this though (at least in some provinces: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_stat...) The manager from BP was very adamant about the fact that little communication was allowed between the traders and anyone else at BP.

Part of the issue is that BP also sells futures, and they have the ability to influence the futures price. (That is relating to your comment about economies of scale, storage capacity, etc).

I wasn't arguing about whether what BP is doing is legal or not. I was commenting on the initial post which implied that some traders are capable of making commodities trades based on some form of "skill". I was saying that they outperform the market because they have non-public information that gives them an advantage. (i.e. I was trying to dissuade laymen from thinking that they can make a quick buck off of commodities).

Thank you for those articles though. The second one in particular seems very interesting.