What really determines the price of oil? Anthony May, assistant professor of finance at Wichita State University’s W. Frank Barton School of Business, explored this topic with co-authors from the University of Oklahoma and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The results were published in a paper titled “Factors Influencing Oil Prices: A Survey of the Current State of Knowledge in the Context of the 2007-08 Oil Price Volatility.” The goal of Dr. May’s research was to begin the discussion of how price formation, volatility, hedging, and speculation affect the global price of oil. This research project is an important piece of the oil price puzzle.