So was the housing market and look what happened to the price of homes when that bubble burst. All commodities have a some sort of boom and bust life cycle. I think oil is very close to bust!

I am a little surprised that almost no responder seems to be aware of the over supply of oil in the US due to decreased demand. Supply problems cause you not to be able to buy as much of a product as you want regardless of cost. Like the 1973 oil embargo by opec. You could not buy as much as you wanted in the US at any price at that time, period. If it is not speculation by the greedy few, then why has Canada's gas price increased as well, they are a huge producer and supply 17% of US needs and have abundant oil for domestic uses. Their taxes have not been increased, before someone jumps that way. . It is because of speculation , pure and simple that this is happening. Not "refinary" - refinery by the way, capacity.

Gas prices have dropped about 4% in Phoenix this week which coincides with the drop in crude futures on the speculation market. Everyone in California knows about Enron, same thing different energy here. A free market in commodities is not a very good idea at all, witness the collapse of our economy as it is happening before your eyes. As stated above, the total mismanagement by the current government, on both sides, has caused this problem. They have significantly blundered at every turn since taking office and I doubt that there is one employed person on this forum who thinks their life is better now than it was in 2000, or that their prospects are as bright... :(

Provided we have so much available and untapped, I am thinking it may be a good idea to let OPEC and others sale their oil first. Strategic reserve. :cool: