Just another thought about oil.

How are oil prices determined? Is it "Big Oil", oil executives, speculators, the "Government"?

There is no ambiguity. You'll never need to ask this question again. Here is the only complete and correct answer.

The only people that know where the price of oil is going are the folks that OWN the oil.

This is so simple, it defies logic that anyone even asks the question. Owners can raise prices until they squeeze out the last drop of profit. They can take the world to the brink of ruin. The world reacts and begins to kind of maybe think about thinking about maybe doing something about improving a completely dysfunctional energy policy. Just after investments are made in other energy sources, the owners WILL LOWER THE PRICES to make these alternative investments no longer financially feasible. New energy goes belly-up, and the owners RAISE THE PRICES again, only MUCH higher this time.

Black gold rope-a dope.

Holy sweet crude, Oil Man, this isn't news! The owners have done this EXACT SAME THING several times before to us. Are our brains so filled with useless crap and crippled with media induced ADD ("Speed Racer" comes to mind) that we can't remember what the owners have done to us over the last 35 years? Have we no long term memory?

Consider yourself completely armed for the next idiot that asks you this question. Be swift, be merciful, put him out of his moronic misery...and don't let him breed!