Biggest Oil Speculator of all

Washington Post

It turns out that the just one oil speculator has been behind the leap in oil prices. They're based in Switzerland and their name is Vitol. They're supposed to be an oil trader who has "helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses." But, it turns out that they're speculators more than traders:

"when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- at one point in July, the firm held 11 percent of all the oil contracts on the regulated New York Mercantile Exchange. The discovery revealed how an individual financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without the knowledge of regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant amount of trading activity was concentrated in the hands of just a few speculators."