Do you agree that speculators not to blame for oil price ?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080630/bs_n鈥?/a>Do you agree that speculators not to blame for oil price ?
Four reasons





1-Speculation


2-Collapsing dollar


3-Restricted supply ( oil companies shut down 75% of refineries since 1985 to raise the price, oil companies won't drill on leased land to restrict supply and raise price)


4-Corporate collusion ( both OPEC and Oil companies operate as illegal monopolies)Do you agree that speculators not to blame for oil price ?
Speculators are simply on the top of a long list of scape goats.





The primary cause of the increase in oil prices is the consensus view that future oil supplies will not keep pace with future oil demand.





The debate should be centered on whether the current ';peak oil'; mentality is a result of the physical ';drying up of wells';, or a result of political pressure to limit exploration and development.
Nope


This kind of spike in price of oil is out of line.


Anytime a market drives up that high so fast will crash.


The Saudis know this that is why they are beginning to worry.


The supply is there but it is the speculators who keep driving the numbers up with no reason.





The price of oil is very complicated the speculators are part of it along with host of other reasons.
In the first week they were in power in 2000, Cheney met (secretly) with Big Oil. Since everything Bush and Cheney do is a secret, we still haven't seen the notes to that meeting - probably never will.





I imagine if you were able to see those meeting notes, you'd see how this oil ';crisis'; was all planned out from the beginning. The Supreme Court was bought to put Bush in the White House for a reason. Americans were ready to be skinned - and skinned we now are - in a criminal oil conspiracy we're far too stupid to figure out.





Are you losing your house too - that's also a little present from Bush. Remember back in 2004 when he talked about ';everybody should own their own house';.... Yup - he was setting up the table for the foreclosures now.





Nice to have a psychopath as President, hu?
That is part of it. Speculation has ALWAYS been a problem in the markets... this is NOTHING new!





The biggest issue is the 1million barrels/day difference between what is produced and what is consumed!





1million barrels is a relatively small amount and can be disrupted easily by a storm, a terrorist act, a mechanical failure... ANYTHING could cause the supply levels to fall below the orders already taken. Which would be the definition of a shortage!
they do not get all of the blame. the biggest share of the blame is upon the united states congress and senate along with past president clinton. because of liberalism in america and the democrats wanting to placate them is the most damning blame for the oil crunch right now. mr doodles
Bush and Cheney had a secret meeting with all the big oil execs shortly after taking office. At that time they worked out a plan to raise gas to $5 a gallon before Bush left office. (People used to laugh at me when I said this. They now believe me.) Bush and Cheney refused to turn over the minutes of the meeting to Congress, even taking it all the was to the US Supreme Court. Have you seen the profits the oil companies are making? This is after cooking the books and using a daisy chain to hide their profits. What would be wonderful is if the public could see how many billions of $$ Bush and Cheney's so called blind trust has increased since they took office.
Yes. They're doing their jobs, of finding and exploiting mismatches between the cost of funds and the value of the commodity - - - the problem is the cost of funds is too low. The speculators do not control their interest costs - the Fed does.
They are part of the problem. We have the Patriot act, but our strength is being weakened by this speculation. The effect might as well be a bioterrorism attack since it is slowly killing us. Best that we use th RICO act and throw them all in jail. (Hyperbole of course, but our country depends on our economy. This isn't helping.)
yes and no


Peak Oil (supply %26amp; demand) and the Weak U.S. Dollar are most to blame.





speculators are a short term problem


and - who are the speculators ?


we are ! Our..


Pension Funds, Mutual Funds and Private Hedge Funds


are partly to blame.
Partly. They are part of the problem but no where close to being the biggest problem. I like the suggestion one Wall Street expert made; to qualify to own oil futures one must have the capability to actually RECEIVE the oil.
Yep, I do agree.





I think that, as it always has, the fact that we're at war in the Middle East has artificially driven up the price of oil because they only have that way to attack us.
I think that they are part of the problem but I think that prices are higher now because worldwide demand has increased as countries such as China and India become more industrialized.
No, they are definitely to blame for inflating speculation on light sweet crude.





Its a proven economic fact.
No. Speculators are responsible for much of it, though not all. The sinking dollar (thanks, Bush!) plays a part, too.