Futures trading, weak dollar behind oil shock

Turmoil and chaos have been a byproduct of oil ever since the world chose it as the main energy resource. It may be hard to judge the choice as right or wrong, but when people realized that the cost and the risk of abandoning this energy source would be even greater than of using it, they chose to find ways, be it economic, diplomatic or military, to shore up energy "security". The sad reality is the process of seeking "security" would give rise to more elements of insecurity and one of the symptoms of this condition is the shockwave of high oil price.

The world economy, through efforts to improve efficiency, energy conservation and use of alternative energy, has become more flexible and resilient after surviving the last two oil crises. Even so, the world economy, already reeling from the US subprime crisis and widespread inflation, could not but feel exhausted as the international oil price remains high after topping $100 a barrel early this year and reaching $135 a barrel recently.

Leading oil guzzlers the US and the European Union are currently facing more pressure than others. Frustrated by their own inability to ward off the impact of high oil price on the domestic front immediately, some American and European politicians are rehashing the old trick of diverting public attention elsewhere by blaming other parties for pushing the oil price sky high.