Even after taking out the premium for the risk of US monitory fueled inflation, and taking out the effect of short term commodities speculation, there is still a significant structural upward movement in the price of oil.

This should drive consumers (even those in command economies) to other fuel sources, almost all of them cleaner than petroleum. And the shift is occurring rapidly. I was surprised how fast US consumers began to shift out of SUVs in direct response to gas prices, and there is a significant trend in the North East back into cities and away from suburban sprawl. I would have expected trends like this to over over a decade, not over a year, which leads me to think that other energy price based adjustments will occur quickly as well.