You're right in that higher prices for crude and gasoline are a good thing, since that's the only thing that seems to get people actually conserving and investing in alternative energy.
However, the "speculation" that folks are complaining about isn't actually warehousing oil in anticipation of higher prices - the problem is people playing investment games with oil futures, which is all paper, and buying up futures expecting that prices will be even higher tomorrow. When done irrationally, this causes a "bubble" - witness home prices and various overpriced stocks.
The problem is when you've shot past the actual value of the security and are now trading on the willingness of someone else to pay more (this is effectively a ponzi scheme). At some point, someone says "I'm not going to pay it, because it's not really worth 1/10 that price" - everyone suddenly realizes the truth, nobody can sell, and the price drops like a rock.
So folks are suggesting that is what's going on with oil prices, in addition to actual shortages, demand, and the devalued dollar.
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