The United States Federal Trade Commission issued a guide earlier this month to help businesses and individuals comply with is new rule designed to prevent manipulation in wholesale petroleum market transactions.

The rule, which took effect Nov. 4, prohibits fraudulent or deceptive conduct, including marking false or misleading statements of material fact, in connection with wholesale purchases of crude oil, gasoline, or distillates. The rule separately bans the intentional failure to state a material fact when the omission makes the statement misleading and distorts or is likely to distort petroleum markets.

According to details in the guide, the rule does not prohibit mistakes, unintended conduct or legitimate conduct undertaken in the ordinary course of business. The FTC said the rule is not intended to disrupt the flow of truthful information or to discourage good faith estimates, nor does the commission intend to second-guess legitimate supply and operational decisions.

FTC stated it can sue violators in court and that the court can impose penalties of up to $1 million a day for each violation, in addition to other remedies available under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Authorized under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, FTC said the rule “does not apply to retail sales of gasoline, diesel, or fuel oil, nor do they set wholesale prices for covered products.”