RENO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday the U.S. attorney general was assembling a team to root out any fraud and manipulation in the oil markets that might be contributing to higher U.S. gasoline prices.

"The truth is, there's no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away," Obama said in prepared remarks for his opening statement at a townhall-style meeting in Nevada.

"The Attorney General's putting together a team whose job it will be to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices - and that includes the role of traders and speculators. We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain," Obama said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, writing by Matt Spetalnick, editing by Alister Bull)