The CFTC is beginning to think so - after plenty of political pressure, the commission's now taking steps to increase regulation of the energy market.
But how much of the rise in the oil price can really be blamed on speculation?
This Fed letter discusses the outlook and predicts the price settling back to around $70 - certainly below $100 "absent supply disruptions" - it also discusses the impact of the falling dollar and rising inventories.

Yves Smith doubts "the prevailing view that an price increase of nearly 50% in six months in crude oil prices is entirely a function of demand" here.

Calculated Risk throws up its hands and complains about the lack of information coming out of the oil states on their real reserves (or lack thereof).

In a related story, US journalist David Corn goes into the Phil Gramm story in more detail here, linking him not only to the subprime crisis but also to the deregulation of the US energy markets which gave Enron its chance to, er, shine in the 1990s. (His wife, incidentally, went from CFTC to Enron's board.)