People across the nation have balled up their fists at the pump in recent weeks as gasoline prices have eclipsed the $4 per gallon mark. But the main culprit – Wall Street – has largely escaped the blame, which is one of the major Phil Cannella complaints.

Speculators – an all-encompassing word for the investment banks and hedge funds which buy and sell oil, gasoline and heating oil – can buy and sell contracts for gasoline via the futures market.

With a limited amount of gasoline contracts, and as more speculators are “going long,” (betting that prices will rise) this pressures gas prices to rise. And they have done so in ever increasing amounts, as speculative “long” gasoline futures contracts have increased by nearly 32% since the start of the year, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

According to Phil Cannella, the steep climb in gasoline prices has become a major hot-button political issue. Predictably, only a handful of Congressional members have put the spotlight on Wall Street.

Speculators have no intention of ever buying or selling oil. Futures contracts guarantee delivery of gasoline one month after the purchase date. Speculators, instead, “roll” their contract over to the next month so they don’t have to actually hold any physical quantities of gasoline.

Refiners and gasoline retailers – people who actually make and use gasoline – purchase futures contracts in order to lock in a price when buying or selling gasoline. The influx of speculators into the futures market disrupts this practice, which ends up hurting drivers at the pump, another Phil Cannella complaint.

Without Wall Street’s influence, gasoline prices would likely cost much less than they currently do. Gasoline demand in the United States – by far the biggest consumer of the product – has recently reached lows not seen in a decade.

Many have attributed the rise in prices to sanctions placed on Iran intended to limit that nation’s oil production. However, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) –particularly Saudi Arabia – said they can quickly ramp up production to make up for any shortfalls caused by a disruption from Iran.

Simply blaming gasoline price rises on potential problems in Iran has taken center stage among Phil Cannella concerns.

Oil production in North America has increased a great deal in recent years. New oil deposits in North Dakota and South Texas have been found, extracted and are headed to refineries, allowing the production of more gasoline.

Gasoline supplies have outpaced demand in recent weeks as well. In fact, so much more gasoline has been produced that the United States has exported more gasoline to Latin America than it has imported from elsewhere, a reversal of a trend that lasted for years. This has prompted many to wonder why the U.S. doesn’t force American refiners to sell gasoline only within the country’s borders, Phil Cannella points out.

Economics 101 – the basic teachings of supply and demand – dictates that gasoline should cost far less than it currently does. However, Wall Street’s quiet influence has caused this not to be the case, hurting everyone in the process, thus earning the fiasco a high ranking among Phil Cannella complaints.