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SRT wrote:
Interesting article on oil speculation:
Oil Speculation

The article is bunk, propaganda put out on behalf of power-grabbing politicians and bureaucrats who want to increase their authority to meddle in oil markets (read "price controls", which any honest economist will explain only succeed in discouraging supply and ultimately result in higher prices than would otherwise be the case). Fortunately, as the article admits, their efforts have been essentially futile. The reach of their meddling does not extend to international markets where most of the action is.

The "price" of oil on the global market is not "a" price but merely a statistical amalgamation of prices negotiated in individual transactions by hundreds of buyers and sellers all over the world. No "conspiracy" can dictate the terms of all those transactions.

The rap against speculators is totally phony. Any honest economist will explain that speculators serve a useful function in the economy by reducing the magnitude of price fluctuations that otherwise occur. Think about it: When speculators expect prices to be higher in the future they buy and thereby drive prices up somewhat. When speculators expect prices to be lower in the future they sell, tending to drives prices ... which way do you think? It's a risky business. If they guess right, they make money as a reward for their service in reducing price swings and get to speculate some more. If they guess wrong, they go bust.