The manipulation of the oil price by buying futures that magnify speculation by 16 times,cries of Peak Oil and extrapolation by interested groups such as Goldman Sachs that oil will be soon $200 a barrel,shows that in the US the financial market is out of control.According to Engdahl,the financial system has found another way to recoup losses of the sub-prime mortage debacle.The tail is wagging the dog.

People all around the planet are suffering on the basis of pure speculation and unbridled greed.

If this dangerous scenario is allowed to continue,then the world could be tipped into a deep recession.When the markets produce recessions,those with capital again buy bargains at the expense of victims.You have to wonder if recessions are diliberately initiated to lower wages and keep the preditors happy.Just look at the behaviour of our Reserve Bank.

The Bush administration is good at sacrificing their soldiers in Iraq,yet do not have the backbone to stand up to their own financial system.

ARJAY... point well taken and noted....

SOLUTION.. there is one...called 'legislation' about profiteering over crucial resources.

If one government won't do it.. then lets ELECT ONE WHICH WILL.

Arjay, the way you are going, you are going to die of worry :(.

Short term, you can switch to gas, 60c or so a litre, the Govt pays
2000$ of the 3000$ conversion cost. If you live in WA, the State Govt
will kick in the other 1000$, you can essentially get it done for
free.

Long term, a high oil price now is good news, for it finally forces
people to address that oil is not unlimited. Money is being invested
to find an alternative, for its the West who have been idiots,
becoming addicated to oil.

We have to start dealing with these problems now, not when there
are signs up at the pump, saying "no supply available, sorry"

So why oil prices are a bit higher then they might be, frankly I
really don't care. The big picture matters, ie solutions to energy
questions, not the little picture, my back pocket next week.

Just North of you, a whole new energy source, coal seam gas, is just
being discovered and developed. There could be more gas there, then
the Gorgon gasfield in the NW shelf holds, enough gas to drive every
car on the East Coast. You should be thrilled that higher energy
prices are bringing these discoveries to the surface! For it will
mean that in your lifetime and in your kids lifetime, you will all
have wheels.

Arjay “The manipulation of the oil price by buying futures that magnify speculation by 16 times,”

Somehow, such speculation would produce its own downfall. No different to the sub-prime scandal.

Whilst speculation on future prices works for the benefit of the producer as much as the speculator (its called price hedging and is popular among many commodity producers), I find the level of speculation, as a 16 times price multiplier on the legitimate aspirations of OPEC somewhat fanciful to say the least.

I must admit to doing as Yabby suggested, I recently bought another car and had it immediately converted to LPG, all on the government.

Filling up at 60 cents a litre is wonderful.

Col Rouge and Yabby.All is well for those who feed off the share market and sit back in their comfortable lifestyles with little stress.Who feeds the share market?It is the low wages of those in poor countries and not necessarily the good management practises of the corporates that make it possible.

I like many Aussies are doing it tough and do not at this stage have easy options.So do give your altrustic clap trap of how easy it is to find alternatives.

It is not just the price of fuel in NSW,the price of everything is outstipping our incomes.Fuel affects everthing from the farm gate to the consumer,and if you two don't appreciate how tough it is for ordinary folk,then perhaps it is time you both experienced real poverty.I find it incredible that both of you are so detached from the realities beneath your noses.

Arjay “It is the low wages of those in poor countries and not necessarily the good management practises of the corporates that make it possible”

I suggest you justify it with examples.

As for “All is well for those who feed off the share market and sit back in their comfortable lifestyles with little stress.”

I like you, work hard for what I earn. I do not have a huge share portfolio which pads the pillow between me and mean street.

“So do give your altrustic clap trap of how easy it is to find alternatives.”

I have observed the opportunity, at least under the previous liberal government (not sure about the current pack of pricks to how much longer it will last) for those who wished to reduce their fuel bills to acquire LPG fuelled vehicles.

Btw the vehicle I bought was second hand and incredibly cheap.

“the price of everything is outstipping our incomes.”
Blame that on the largesse and incompetence of the labor states and now federal governments.

“if you two don't appreciate how tough it is for ordinary folk,then perhaps it is time you both experienced real poverty.”

I have said it before, I am the son of a railway worker father and a non-working mother. My childhood was materially very limited, although not the love my parents showed me, my brother and sisters.
The reason I do it less tough these days is because I stopped pretending that government would ever do anything for me a few decades ago.

Knowing how politicians operate, what sort of gullible twat is it who expects them to do anything for anyone?

I opt for self-reliance, I can rely on that.

Certainly a better option than putting faith in any support from government.

“I find it incredible that both of you are so detached from the realities beneath your noses.”

Maybe that is because I made the reality beneath my nose.

I did not wait for government to make it or cock it up for me