HFs causing high oil prices

Here's something for ya'll that's a little different from the standard fare on this site. Are hedge funds and others trading in papers actually affecting the price of oil? Seems clamping down on financial players in energy is the latest silver bullet to end high gas prices. (e.g.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gas-could-f… ) I always thought this was total bunk, but I've heard some smart folks saying otherwise. Any thoughts (esp. from people close to this sort of action)?

I work commodities, but not oil specifically, btw.