in a peak oil meeting i attended 3 years ago, we had reps from the state doe.. we were told then that nat gas and electricity futures contracts being signed at that time for future delivery, were much higher than the pricing we were seeing on our current bills.. its my understanding that the energy we are using now was purchased via contracts years earlier, so the pricing we are seeing today, in my estimation, was predicted at least 3 years ago... i do realize that speculators can influence current pricing... what i learned from the peak oil group suggested that we would see gasoline eventually reach $5 a gallon, but i didnt think it would happen as soon as it did... so, i believe the recent spike we saw was manipulation but i still believe that $5 is the goal and thats without any wars or other price fixing games stepping in and taking advantage of a situaion...
