Are speculators driving up oil prices?
It is often claimed that speculators are driving up oil prices artificially. That is a possible scenario, yet it wasn't applicable to for example the recent run-up in oil prices. For speculators to drive down oil prices paid by final users they must stock oil in physical inventories, something which they haven't done. Indeed, if you look at , it seems that speculation has been holding down prices. Crude oil and gasoline inventories are down by about 5.5% the latest year, while inventories of distillates (like diesel) and propane are down more than 10%.
Last
09/16/11 Week Year
Crude Oil 339.0 -7.3 -19.3
Gasoline 214.1 3.3 -12.0
Distillate 157.6 -0.9 -17.2
Propane 55.359 0.614 -8.361
