Is Oil Speculation Responsible for High Gas Prices?

• “No”

  

  “There is No Conclusive Data that Speculators are Driving Up Prices”

• No Objections Yet

There is No Conclusive Data that Speculators are Driving Up Prices

New York Mercantile Exchange

Commodity Futures Exchange

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With hundreds of commercial participants and instantaneous price dissemination, any “speculative” price would be expected to be met with an equally strong “commercial” reaction.  If markets move in a direction inconsistent with actual market factors, a vast number of participants, including energy producers, wholesalers, retailers, and government agencies, have comparable access to information.  These participants will respond to ensure that prices rapidly return to where the industry consensus believes they should be.  By the nature of their role, speculative traders seek to participate in price trends that are already underway, but because they lack the capacity to make or take delivery, they will never be in a position to hold a market position through the delivery process.  They create virtually no impact on daily settlement prices, the primary benchmark used by the marketplace, and therefore are not the cause of the rise in oil prices.

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"No" NYMEX

• Speculative Activity on Exchanges is Managed by Position Limits
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• Analyze the Data
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• Market Fundamentals Most Important Factor in Current Market
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• Demand Continues to Grow, Supply Remains Relatively Constant
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• There is No Conclusive Data that Speculators are Driving Up Prices
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"Yes" Public Citizen

• Speculation is Knocking the Supply-Demand Fundamentals Out of Whack
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• Energy Traders Buying Up Physical Oil Assets in Manipulation Bid
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• Real Solutions For a Real Problem
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"Yes" Consumer Federation of America

• Lack of Regulation Has Cost Oil Consumers Billions
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• Market Fundamentals Alone Do Not Explain the Current High Prices
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• There is a Large Speculative Premium in the Price of Oil
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• If Fundamentals Did Not Change, We Have to Find What Did
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• The Link Between Trading and Rising Prices
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• Regulatory Reform is the Way to Solve the Problem
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Most Objections

Speculation = High Gas Prices?

• Yes
• No

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