(no subject)
"In June 2006, oil traded in futures markets at some $60 a barrel and the Senate investigation estimated that some $25 of that was due to pure financial speculation. One analyst estimated in August 2005 that US oil inventory levels suggested WTI crude prices should be around $25 a barrel, and not $60."
Essentially, this means that today's prices of around $130-$140 are 60% speculation.
This is a link to an article exploring the likelihood that current oil prices are not driven by supply and demand, as although demand has been increasing, supply has, too.
"The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently forecast that in the next few years global surplus production capacity will continue to grow to between 3 and 5 million barrels per day by 2010, thereby 'substantially thickening the surplus capacity cushion.'"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8878