U.S. should probe price spike in biofuels credits: ethanol group

By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. derivatives regulators and environmental officials should probe for possible manipulation in the market for U.S. biofuels credits after prices surged for unknown reasons, an association representing the ethanol industry has said. The Renewable Fuels Association, in a letter dated Aug. 1, encouraged the heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency to determine "whether certain parties may be exerting undue influence on prices or otherwise engaging in manipulative practices." Last week, prices neared three-year highs as traders raced to buy credits, giving the thinly traded and opaque market a sudden jolt. Representatives of the CFTC and the EPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.