What do you do when the Oil market is driven not by supply and demand,

Stock market analysts and investors have taken a commodity that has no shortages, no experienced discontinuity in supply and driven the price almost 10 dollars in 5 months. Every report you hear expresses "investor's fears" which continue to dominate the price setting. Nobody is selling, and everytime someone cracks a loud fart halfway across the globe they buy more and send the price up. The price seems to reflect little if any actual data since any event that happens today will take almost a month to affect the market. They use this as a double edged sword, on one hand a bomb going off somewhere instantly causes the price to go up, however increased production will certainly have it's affect later on but not for at least a month. So what do you do? How would you regulate such a volatile and illogical world? Anyone? I really think it's out of hand.

Umm...perhaps you should take a look at

http://www.peakoil.com/

And welcome to DU! :hi:

Just wait until we run out of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and everyone suddenyl realises that we don't have any infastructure set up to import the stuff! Even Greenspan could see that! Frist thing I've agreed with the shrub on since he came into office, he had a burst of wisdom and retained Alan Greenspan!

I thought that was what our SECRET energy policy was all about.
What the fu&k is this all about. I was born on Easter Sunday 1948. and no middle Mame, Mom told me I didn't need one, she named me David, I have 12 brother and sister, Know what, we are as close as paint on the wall. Love you, lets have a good day tomorrow, as Toddy was...

The traders don't bid according to the current commodity supply. They don't even bid according to what they think the current commodity supply will be in 3-6 months. They bid according to what they think the market itself will think about it in 3-6 months. It's self-reflective.

What to do about it? Hell -- don't ask me. I'm not a big fan of that abstract Capitalist stuff. Buying and selling things, I get. But options, puts, calls, and shorts? -- tell me how that stuff isn't just gambling? :shrug:

(aside) nice to read you again htuttle, I've liked your input.

$5 per barrel is geopolitical. It may go higher. We can stop attacking other countries and lower the price. Also our market whiz President is buying oil for the Strategic Reserve.

It's probably true that the oil companies are working this to their advantage, but then why shouldn't they?

Also, the blame lies not entirely with the U.S. SUV driving public. China is seeing an explosive growth in demand. Oil tankers are getting record daily rates on the Arabian Gulf-Asia run.

get as many people as you can to not buy gas on one particular day and hit em in their wallets. if we do this once a month it will get their attention

so much as the amount the refineries can deliver.

When prices were $15 per barrel there was no profit in investing in exploration, drilling, or refining. These investments take years to come to market. The result is that when demand increases (much of it international), supplies are limited and prices rise. It will take several years for supply and demand to come back into balance.

I don't think this rise in prices is directly related to peak oil. Not taking a position one way or another -- I don't think anyone knows exactly how much oil there is. Eventually we will run out of oil. But I believe the current rise in prices is a shorter-term effect.