"It was never about supply and demand as such, but about the market's perception of where they were going. If oil prices head south again, that, too, will be a result of guesswork," said Leonid Bershidsky, a Bloomberg View contributor.

Indeed, he says, nothing has really changed in the market that has contributed to upswing.

"There have been no bigger than average supply disruptions in the Middle East, no oil embargo against Russia, no reduction in US shale output as a result of Saudi Arabia's price war," Bershidsky said.

One factor that could have convinced traders of a possible reduction in supply was announcements by US energy companies of potential falling profits, job cuts and fewer rigs in operation.

However, Bershidsky adds, US oil production hasn't slowed and instead reached a new high for the week ending Feb 6. Still, he concedes that the effect of lower rigs in operation could be felt in the months ahead. You can read the rest of his piece here.

We have previously addressed the issue that the prices we pay at the pump are artificial.

In previous years, we paid more because investors kept speculating that the oil supply wouldn't keep up with the demand. Today, we are beneficiaries of the stand off between the Saudi-led OPEC and the US shale oil producers. Who knows what the situation will be in six months but it is clear that betting our energy future on fossil fuels is not the way to go.

It's worth pointing out that as gas prices increase, the one factor keeping the rise at a moderate level is ethanol. Based on today's prices, consumers are saving an average of 8 cents a gallon at the pump because of ethanol. Now, if all gasoline were blended with a higher percentage of ethanol (like E15), the savings would be higher.

While ethanol, like crude oil, is a publicly-traded commodity, the chances of its prices being dictated from Saudi Arabia are pretty slim.