Chairman of Gazprom Predicts $100 Oil Because of Speculation. Really?

This weekend, there was Alexei Miller, Chairman of Russia’s major energy company, Gazprom, predicting that the price of oil would jump to $100 a barrel because of ’speculation’. Now there is a man who should know what he is talking about, or certainly what he shouldn’t be talking about. And he should know when the fix is in. One little detail however. His language, one could surmise, is willfully misleading. ‘Speculation’ should not be the operative word. Rather ‘manipulation’ would be more to the point.

‘Speculation’ is a form of gambling, a wager whereby you may win or lose. ‘Manipulation’ is immeasurably more sinister. It bespeaks of controlling , orchestrating and maneuvering to falsify and rig. In the United States and most everywhere it is illegal to rig markets. When it is attempted either in the commodity or stock exchanges here, we have a plethora of agencies whose task it is to be alert to manipulation, and then to prosecute, imprison and fine. Not always successfully, but to be vigilante nonetheless.

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