Laying blame for oil mess isn’t easy

With gasoline prices nearing $4 a gallon, many Americans want to know why there is so much pain at the pumps these days. It’s a good question, deserving of an answer.

Oil industry analysts say laws of supply and demand are not entirely to blame. It appears that plenty of petroleum is available on world markets — but it is costing much, much more than it did just a year ago.

Two U.S. senators, Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., have asked President Bush to create a task force “to investigate whether speculators are driving up prices in energy commodity markets through manipulative or deceptive practices.” In other words, they want to know whether speculators are inflicting pain on American motorists in order to get rich quickly.

At one time, the oil producers in OPEC could have dealt swiftly and effectively with such speculators. More than once in the past, OPEC leaders have increased production to put more oil on the market, thus foiling those who would, in popular parlance, have attempted to “corner the market.” But earlier this year — blaming speculators to some extent — OPEC refused to increase production.

Are high oil prices a result of supplies being manipulated? We don’t know. But Bush should consider the Reed-Levin request, in order to look into the matter and provide Americans with answers.

Even if speculators are driving up oil prices, they may be doing nothing illegal.

There are no laws against buying low and selling high, after all. Still, learning just what has caused the drastic increase in prices could help Americans guard against even greater problems in the future.