CRYSBALL

Oil Markets, Speculators, and Vitol Group's Controlling Stake

Daniel,
To further your education in the financial markets, strongly recommend you read 'BEYOND OIL' by Kenneth F. Deffeyes and do a Google Search on Queuing Theory developed by Suzy Sachs as both have relevance to the the Commodities Markets.

3 Aspects to Pricing Oil

You seem to have neglected something economists call supply & demand,however, new economics always wants to find other explanations, than the real ones. We live in a global economy, and your analysis is parochial & shallow.

Gas Prices Rise, but the Industry Approaches Growth Stagnation

Of all the refiners, look at HOC which has very low material costs becasue of their ability to process sour crude and black way crude, which they obtain at significant discounts.......additi... there Western refinery location and markets have better domographics [longer driving distances on average].

Zman's Energy Week in Review

one other positive demand aspect iss the NG input into fertilizer [ the N of NPK for ammonia], which is booming along with agricultural demand.....much of Canadaian NG production growth will be siphonied off to oil sands.

Finally as we enter Hurricane season in the Gulf the probability of three years without a majhor Gulf Hurricane seems unlikely.