> It's not paranoia or speculation primarily driving the price increase
the price of oil is driven by supply and demand. the useful of oil has gone up, but the amount of oil we extract has not kept up. that's why the price has moved.
The price for oil is affected by supply and demand but also by speculation. People invest in oil, and people speculate in oil. More so, the price for oil includes a substantial degree of risk assessment. If buyers and sellers both agree that the future of oil production (due to geopolitical instability, for example) is at risk and could lead to oil shortages tomorrow then they will settle on higher oil prices today.
The same sort of effects don't enter into the price of, say, Aluminum which is much less entertwined in complex geopolitical situations.
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_rate/historical...
> It's not paranoia or speculation primarily driving the price increase
the price of oil is driven by supply and demand. the useful of oil has gone up, but the amount of oil we extract has not kept up. that's why the price has moved.