The Wall Street Journal had an article this morning about the Strategic Oil Reserve in the US and what they recommend we do with it (sell it, btw, b/c the price is so high). But, they also state that OPEC has a history of raising prices like this, and then just absolutely dumping the price as a means to eliminate all the competition in one shot. Possibly, we're about to experience this price dump again? It's a good read, and they also explain some of the reasons for the high prices:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121029497174279551.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries