A few weeks ago, we had a major shortage of oil on the market...

[kentuck]

Or so we were told.

It was a matter of supply and demand. China and India were now competing with the US for the supply of this valuable resource. The price was over $140 per barrel and over $4 dollars per gallon at the pump. No one thought we would ever see $3 per gallon oil again.

Today, gasoline is below $1.80 per gallon in many places in the country. Where in the hell did they find all this supply of oil?? If they didn't find more supply, does that mean they were ripping us off, just as some folks had suggested? That it was mostly driven by traders on Wall Street? It wasn't that long ago folks...

[gateley]

1. I've heard 'them' say the demand has waned -- so they've got plenty of

supply.

[Snotcicles]

2. Drill baby drill. nt

[az chela]

3. You are right about this one kentuck.We were taken by

Opec and the oil corporations and now that we are broke in this country there is a huge supply.
They made their billions and now they walk away laughing

[safeinOhio]

4. Unregulated speculation.

Just another bubble, see "Minsky Moment".

[girl gone mad]

7. speculative bubble.

I do believe that peak oil is real, but it's not as if the oil and gas industry woke up one day a couple of years ago and said "oh shit, have you seek this Hubbert curve?!" That factor was already priced in. What happened over the past few years was related to the credit bubble. Excess capital searching for a home that could give good returns. These bubbles happen every time there is an excessive wealth gap.

[ben_meyers]

5. Do you have a link to those stories?

I don't recall anyone claiming a shortage of oil, rather an unregulated speculative bubble that was about to burst, much like Enron.

[Sal Minella]

9. The big oil companies were claiming a shortage, therefore the "We must drill in ANWR" cries, the

"We must drill on the continental shelf" cries, the "we must have more subsidies to help us pay for more drilling" cries.

All through that speculative bubble, Big Oil was claiming the high prices were due entirely to supply and demand.

[Catch22Dem]

10. What? You don't remember all the talk about supply shortages?

How? How could you not have heard this. It was all over the news.

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2005/08/23/high-gas-prices-china-fuel-shortage/
http://www.pr-inside.com/against-a-background-of-soaring-international-r602956.htm
http://www.michigandaily.com/content/oil-shortage-ups-gas-heating-prices
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/primer_on_gasoline_prices/html/petbro.html
http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2008/special-reports/080609-oil-crisis.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4190/is_/ai_n16188076

[ben_meyers]

12. None of those articles is a "few weeks old"

some go back 5 or more years, and they all speak to market manipulation which BTW is a result of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, also known as the Enron loophole.

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. The only reasonable explanation is that it is a miracle.

No way were we getting ripped off by big oil and the Bush crowd. They're too honest and caring.

:sarcasm:

[malaise]

8. Don't forget that the experts said it would be $200 a barrel

before year end.

Where does the Dem bill banning speculation on oil fit into the price drop?

[INdemo]

11. they were ripping us off and were allowed to get away with it

Now why has oil gone down....Because this soon to be Obama administration (64 days) will enforce the regulations on oil speculation and these speculators don't wanna get stuck holding these high priced oil contracts when the bubble bursts...(I think it already has)* could have stopped this madness long ago but he chose to allow them to gouge us and run our economy into the depths of depression..Lets think about when we began to see oil go up....October of 2004 (it was right after Cheney and the oil companies drafted the energy bill)and then after the 2004 election it skyrocketed and now after 4 years and billions of profits later oil is down with no shortage...Imagine that...
Heating oil has not decreased that much because all these distributors have that high priced inventory they bought last summer they have to get rid of.