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Speaking as a 30+ year spec trader, you're nuts when it comes to the futures markets. Margin requirements are going DOWN, not up, in futures, as commodity mkts everywhere are crashing hard. Open interest dropping? Not really -- in some mkts, yes; in others, no. Check the COT figs every week, why don't you?

Do you even know how margin requirement is calculated for futures mkts? Yah, I didn't think so.

It is FAR cheaper to spec the short side of crude/products on the way down than it was to spec the long side on the way up.

Specs driven out of the mkt? Bwaahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

No need to get insulting with your reply. You prove my point however - speculators are driving the price of crude, as opposed to normal market forces. Others agree.

"Today's session in the oil pits confirms that energy prices are being driven by more than fundamentals. The global balance of oil supply and demand does not change rapidly in a single day. Oil demand growth has decelerated and the global economy's prospects have weakened, suggesting lower rather than higher prices for crude." Moody's Economy.com, 9/22/08