Last night on TV Dick Morris was saying he talked to one of the top guys at Oppenheimer who is very knowledgeable about oil and the man was saying that in 1999 there was a change in the rules and this has allowed the speculators to do what they're doing. Apparently the Oppenheimer guy figured that the cost of a barrel of oil without the speculators would be about $60 or so.
If oil was on the spot market that would proably be true. But there is a reason for oil to be on the futures market so that business such as airlines have a guaranteed price in the near term future.
Thank you for the reality check.