[quote=jficquette]Arraya,
I still feel speculation/manipilation was the main driver that pushed oil up to 147 or so.
[/quote]

For once you and I agree on something, John.

I don’t how anybody could watch the events this year – especially the last few weeks – and not come to that conclusion.

Though I may be totally off base here, I have two theories on why speculation may have run rampant:
1) Investors were trying to figure out where to stash their money – housing looks bad, stock market looks bad, gotta put it somewhere! Why not oil?

2) I wouldn’t put it past some of the other countries who are very unhappy with the current US political climate to try and influence the upcoming election by artificially increasing the price of oil through speculation to attempt to tilt the field toward the Dems. I have absolutely zero proof – just a hunch.

I usually don’t go for conspiracy theories but I’m making an exception in this case. 🙂