The rise in oil prices now seems relentless. The price has now crossed $103. MarketWatch reports, "Ecuador's state-run oil company, Petroecuador, suspended operations at a key export pipeline after a landslide damaged infrastructure." While the news may be moderately important, it is hardly a reason to send the global price of crude up. It is a sign that the oil market will react to even the most mundane information.

The psychology of oil trading seems to have changed in the last month. Consumption from emerging countries including China and India has remained high. Concerns about whether older oil fields can produce at current rates have been reported on repeatedly. OPEC has indicated that it may cut production slightly. The unpleasant political problems in Venezuela and Nigeria have been in the papers and on TV since last year.

It may be that the facts of life are dawning on the big oil consuming countries. There is no reason for producers to bring down prices. They are making hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The impact of alternative fuels is decades off. America, Europe, and Asia have not curtailed oil use because of high prices.

Greed has hit the market square between the eyes, and there is no sign that the oil market will see any relief when the money to be made comes so easily and without consequences

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 27wallst.com.