$2 per gallon?

Congress has been holding hearings on the influence of speculation of the energy-future's markets on the high gas prices, and on Monday, four energy analysts testified that the price per gallon could drop to as much as $2 a gallon within a month of passing a law limiting speculation.

From Market Watch (part of the Wall Stree Journal Digital Network):

Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135. Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co., Edward Krapels of Energy Security Analysis and Roger Diwan of PFC Energy Consultants agreed with Masters' assessment at a hearing on proposed legislation to limit speculation in futures markets.

Krapels said that it wouldn't even take 30 days to drive prices lower, as fund managers quickly liquidated their positions in futures markets.

"Record oil prices are inflated by speculation and not justified by market fundamentals," according to Gheit. "Based on supply and demand fundamentals, crude-oil prices should not be above $60 per barrel."

Bush appointees Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson & Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman disagree that the price per gallon, which has doubled in one year, has anything to do with speculators. However...

Speculators now account for about 70% of all benchmark crude trading on the New york Mercantile Exchange, up from 37% in 2000, said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the investigations subcommittee.

Our goal should be eliminating our dependence on oil, whether foreign or domestic, and utilizing more environmentally cleaner ways to produce energy and runs automobiles. But in the meantime, I'd love to pay less for gas.