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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Fundamental supply and demand factors provide the best explanation for the recent crude oil price increases, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Tuesday in a report it coauthored with other major government departments. In its Interim Report on Crude Oil, the Interagency Task Force on Commodity Markets, chaired by the CFTC, studied fundamental supply and demand factors and the roles of various market participants. The task force is composed of staff members from the Departments of Agriculture, Energy and the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. "This staff report reflects the collective knowledge of some of our government's best economists," said CFTC chief economist Jeffrey Harris, who chairs the task force. The CFTC said the task force will continue to evaluate conditions in the commodity markets and will report further on its work later this year.