What caused the oil price explosion?

Now that the shape of the current crisis is becoming clear, so do some explanations. We can trace the banking crisis to unsound lending practices. We can make sense of food price inflation through increased demand from developing countries and rising transport costs. But the mad see-sawing of crude oil prices up to 140 dollars and now down to 40 dollars remains a total mystery to me. 'Speculation', some say but is this more than a mantra ? No speculators have been identified. If anyone is willing to share their economic wisdom, I'd be most grateful.What caused the oil price explosion?
It is the way of the market. The speculators kept pushing oil prices higher to make more money.





The was nothing illegal about it, so no one has been identified, but there are thousands of speculators.What caused the oil price explosion?
Greedy arabs.