why aren't the costs of militarily defending our oil interests in the persion gulf included in determining the u.s. cost of a barrel of oil?

why aren't the costs of militarily defending our oil interests in the persion gulf included in determining the u.s. cost of a barrel of oil?
Asked by: Gerald Wagner from Dayton, OH

Asked of on Nov 20th, 2007

Categories: Campaign 2008.

Answer from: U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

It’s obvious that the war in Iraq has made things more difficult because of turmoil in the Middle East, and just the amount of oil the war is using. There’s a number of things that have caused the price of oil to go up. We believe, and that’s part of our package, we need to do something to rein in the speculation, we believe there’s a lot of speculation. Some economists say the percentage is pretty high, just the speculative part of this.

Answered on May 13th, 2008

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Comments before answer

Perhaps it's speculation?

Posted by AZiffelle on February 15th, 2008 at 4:06 PM

Oil is a commodity that is traded on an exchange like all others. The price is set by the market. (Yes. Supply/Demand apply, but indirectly). There would be less speculation if buyers were required to take delivery of the oil they purchased... much like they did with sugar.