What's driving up oil prices again? Wall Street, of course

WASHINGTON — Oil consumption has fallen, demand from U.S. motorists for gasoline is flat at best and refiners that turn crude into fuel are operating well below capacity. Yet oil prices keep marching toward $90 a barrel, pushing gasoline toward $3 a gallon in many markets, and prompting American drivers to ask, "What gives?" Blame it on the same folks who brought you $140 oil and $4 gasoline in 2008: Wall Street speculators. Experts attribute much of the recent rise in prices to flows of speculative money into oil markets. These bets are fueled by investor expectations that the U.S. and global economies are poised to return to growth and thus spark increased use of oil. Strong growth in China supports the narrative of rising oil consumption and tightening supplies.

news.yahoo.com...

Wall Street is your friend.

God Bless them.

Well I agree the speculators are definitely partially to blame. But last years prices of $1.90 gas (and 50$ barrel oil) were way too low, and for no good reason (although I didn't mind it). The speculators aside it could be two things 1) the price is just seasonally spiking because summers coming or 2) Inflation could be sneaking back in. Food and Oil is definitely two places we'd expect Inflation to show up first.

[edit on 1-4-2010 by asmall89]

Oil is controlled by oil producing nations. We buy most of our oil from the middle east. Wall street may jack the prices up a bit, however them nuts in opec have a bit to do wit it. Supply vs Demand.

Could not have ANYTHING to do with price controls on the dollar could it? They maybe slipping a little. You know, inflation?

What happens when you create say $27 Trillion out of thin air and dump it into the market.

Hmmmmm?

reply to post by David9176


That's good. Because irresponsible people won't be able to afford anything eventually there should be less drunk driving accidents in your country.

In my country the influx of cheap motorcycles from China has caused a rise in accidents because people who can't afford them before now can get them for cheap. Higher gas would also mean less revving of noisy cheap motorcycles where I live. As I keep on saying the masses must not be allowed mobility.

reply to post by oppaperclip


We buy roughly 23% of the world's total oil produced.

Equal parts come form Africa, Canada, and the middle east.

Our single biggest supplier is Canada, then Africa, then the middle east.

Although, as I said before, they all contribute pretty much equal parts.



I don't know that speculators really are driving up the price of oil, but if they are, it's probably a safe bet, because 150$/barrel oil doesn't have a huge impact on the economy, and it's not like people will simply switch to Nat.gas or some other alternative instead. We're stuck on oil, for the most part, so they could be charging 300$/barrel and we'd still be paying it.



If you want to hedge against lost income due to rising gasoline costs, you can invest money in many oil/energy products and byproducts. Open a zecco account or something and buy an unleveraged oil etf or a drilling trust or something like that. If oil does soar like an eagle, you can use the profits you make to offset the rising fuel cost (for a while, at least)

reply to post by oppaperclip


You're kidding right? It was calculated that in 2008, more than half the price of oil was SPECULATION alone by Wall Street, and 90% of that was done by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan...

And where those crooks get their money from to do all that speculation? THE FED, AKA YOU THE TAXPAYER... so again the American people is paying to be screwed.

Well, don't forget there is now increased demand for fuel in India as well as China with the release of the Tata Nano, the small car that costs only $2,500. With roughly 3 billion people in India alone, this is bound to have some impact on demand for fuel world-wide.

reply to post by sos37


There is only 1 billion people in India. Or did you mean Asia as a whole?

reply to post by David9176


Well demand is growing as well from the likes of India, Vietnam, China and Brazil. If and when the western world begins to recover, a barrel of oil will reach 200$ and beyond. It is not going to be pretty.

I believe that after Obama said he's opening up the East Coast for drilling...

OPEC replies with, "Ok, we are jacking up the price. You want your own oil? HA!"


Seriously, speculators are ruining this market.
They shouldn't be allowed to speak.

Period.

It's all a scheme. Endisnighe hit the nail on the head.
Once gas hits $8 a gallon, maybe Americans will do some more complaining.

I, for one, say bring it. Jack the price up!
I can't stop you by myself, but I can do what I have to, to stop using oil.
I can't wait to see the chaos once people can't pay for their Mcdonalds or their cable bills because gas is too high.



(I'm taking all this very light-hearted)

Just like clockwork, gas prices ALWAYS go through the roof JUST in time for what?

Memorial Day weekend.

These thieving scam artists (Big Oil and Banks) know exactly how to steal from us.

Should be illegal. Or that the news would point out that every year before Memorial Day and Labor Day and July 4th, Gas prices increase.