Certainly oil companies do risk management in terms of buying futures for crude oil and buying or selling futures for gasoline. Those are referred to as wet barrels. In other words, institutional buyers such as municipalities will actually buy in these markets in order to normalize their price. But there are speculators who buy and sell before taking physical delivery, and that speaks to some of the volatility, to be sure. But it is as much of a risk reduction strategy as it is speculative. I reserve the word “speculative” for people who trade in dry barrels, not actually taking physical delivery.
