White House hopeful Barack Obama attacked energy speculators Sunday, outlining new regulatory proposals that his campaign said would slash record-high oil prices and help hard-pressed consumers.The Democrat attacked the so-called Enron loophole, a 2000 deregulation of oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that critics say opened the way to a speculative free-for-all in the oil markets."For the past years, our energy policy in this country has been simply to let the special interests have their way - opening up loopholes for the oil companies and speculators so that they could reap record profits while the rest of us pay four dollars a gallon," Obama said in a statement."My plan fully closes the Enron loophole and restores common-sense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future," the Illinois senator said.Industry analysts say if not for speculators, oil prices would be half of what they are today. Congress is looking into what roles speculators may have played in rising gas prices. The House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation heard from regulators, market chiefs and analysts Monday - but speculators were missing from the hearing.