Please name the manipulators and the methods they are using to get the result they desire.
Steve Forbes just talked about this in lecture this week, I believe he had a column, or has a column coming out as well. Look at the raw data, oil reserves are HIGHER then they have been in years... yet the price of OIL is $70 a bbl? SW Airlines is paying < $30 a bbl because they bought long term futures contracts before the speculating got insane, American West is paying $40ish a bbl for the same reason.
Just like the late 90s and tech stocks, right now nearly every HEDGE FUND IN AMERICA has put huge money into oil futures, as long as the bigger fool keeps coming along willing to pay more on speculation, the price will keep climbing (just like tech stocks)... eventually however the bigger fool no longer shows up, and the price returns to its true market value.
The true market value of a bbl or oil, based on historical numbers, production, consumption and reserves is about 30-40bbl. THere is NOTHING going on right now in the marketplace to justify it at $70 a bbl, other than speculators... just like Amazon, and Webvan and Covad weren't worth 100's of dollars a share either.
That's what's going on with Crude, pure and simple.