Oil, why is the price so high?

The last twelve months has seen a dramatic rise in the price of oil, particularly in 2008, with the price more than doubling and reaching a record level of over $147 on 11th July. This has prompted the obvious question, why is the oil price so high? The most obvious reason for the high price is an apparent mismatch between supply and demand. This has been largely attributed to the significant increase in global demand for oil and other commodities, especially from emerging markets and in particular, China, while the US remains the largest oil consumer. On the other side, supply remains ...