Read a report here from the Political Economy Research Institute about speculation and rising gas prices.

How Wall Street Speculation is Driving Up Gasoline Prices Today

Robert Pollin and James Heintz
Political Economy Research Institute
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
June 21, 2011

“The average retail price of gasoline at the pump, excluding taxes, in May was
$3.96. In January 2009, the average retail price was $1.96 (expressed in May 2011 dollars). In other words, consumers are now paying twice as much to fill their cars as they did 2½ years ago. Even as recently as last October, the average gas price at the pump was $2.93. The average gas price has thus risen by a full dollar—35 percent—in only seven months.

What explains thus huge run up in gas prices for consumers? To a significant extent, this is the result of the economy moving out of a deep recession, into a recovery, which has increased the demand for gasoline. But a major additional factor is the rapid growth in large-scale speculative trading around oil prices through the oil commodities futures market.” Click here for more.