Let's not forget the most important underlying fact:

Oil Supplies are peaking

You can talk speculation and market manipulation all day/night because these are also affecting the price. But under it all, there's just not enough to go around anymore.

Heck, I'd love to buy a boat, but I have enough problems filling my compact pickup up right now. I'm planning on downsizing.

High/skyrocketing oil prices are here to stay.

[quote=Kube] Anyone remember the Carter administration?

The world price of oil is set in dollars. As the Fed lowers the interest rate, the dollar becomes cheaper. The cheaper the dollar, the highter the price of oil. In the last few meetings the Fed has almost advertised beforehand that they are again lowering interest rates before their meeting. So, by attempting to bail out those subprime mortgages, they have increased the price of oil.

That's exaclty how these folks are making this scheme work. The lower the dollar goes the better it works.

The real "trick" hear I beleive is that some folks have figured out how to manipulate the rate of exchange (Dollars to Euros) and the market between Europe and the USA and that is actually what has driven up the price of oil. These folks are coming into the US market and buying options on the up side of the price of oil then going to the European market and manipulating the price to there strike price in the US on the option trade and making a killing. That has got to be illigal or some sort of insider trading in my book. I printed this article at work and let some of the guys read it a lot of them including me think that there needs to be a federal investigation into the dealings at Goldman Sachs and laws should be inacted immediatly to stop folks from doing this.
I am a conservative, formally in a family business and I firmly beleive in a free market, but in my book this shouldn't be happening, supply and demand ought to be the only controlling factors in this market, not some way to flim flam the world to make a fortune.
My two cents.

In the end it is our fault we refuse do anything about it.

We scoff at the French but the last time the government raised the price of gas (petrol) .15 cents they clogged the streets of Paris and every major city and they lowered the price in less than 48 hours. Try that in Mexico and like they did three years ago and their world came to a stand still for 72 hours, with Molotov Cocktails included, I know we are civilized and have more to risk, but at some point we will have to stand up to the establishment and not lie to ourselves and say "well we do have it better than everyone else", we are the modern Roman Empire and if the government does not care for is people the empire will cease to exist.

I am not a communist, socialist, or anarchist but energy resources in the U.S. should not be owned by private entities. Now I come from a land owning family and I would be the first to agree with the nationalization of all mineral assets in the U.S. for the economic betterment of the people of the U.S.

Here's another link some one just sent me. I thought this was neat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbakN7SLdbk&feature=related

No offense, but you are listening to NBC, CBS, and CNN too much! Baloney about not enough oil; I've been hearing that story for 30 years!

Right now, ANWR has as much oil as Iraq, the shale oil in the mountians of Wyoming, to the northern border swamps Saudi Arabia, and lets not forget the oil Mexico is currently extracting from the Gulf that due to 'environmental' policies, we can't drill for ourselves.

In addition, we haven't allowed oil companies to build a new refinery in the U.S. in over 30 years.

If our government and the environmental nuts that seem to have a strangle-hold on most american brains would let the free market loose, the price set by OPEC would be broken and the speculators would have no choice but to reduce the price for oil. (competition works everytime it is tried)

Only until we cut loose of our own self imposed guilt over the environmental worries about producing more of our own energy, will the cost of that energy go down.

Unfortunately, all three candidates for President have bought into the global warming scam, and we are in for 4 years of economic pain. Anyone remember the Carter administration?

I drove my truck out to the farm last weekend. In an effort to do the right thing, I only drove 60. Folks were very nice. Many of them waived - but most only used one finger.

I drove my truck out to the farm last weekend. In an effort to do the right thing, I only drove 60. Folks were very nice. Many of them waived - but most only used one finger.

I got 21.2 mpg according to the trip computer. At 70, I get just 17 mpg. This is a Ford F250 with the 7.3 diesel (2 wheel drive). As much as diesel is going for it pays to slow down.

If the price of fuel was tied to the old "supply and demand" theory, wouldn't there be lines at the gas stations like during the oil embargo in the 70's? Stations seem to be full and willing to sell you all you can afford, that ain't no supply problem.

Oh, and yes there have been no new refineries, but all the refineries have been expanded, some doubled their processing.