The number of traders betting that oil prices will drop outnumbers the number of traders who believe they will rise by the largest margin ever. Some analysts believe prices will fall significantly lower in the near future – at least into the low $60 a barrel range – after soaring to $75 a barrel in August.

Each year, generally in May, the Energy Information Administration publishes a less-than-eagerly-anticipated tome called the International Energy Outlook, 250+ pages of mind-numbing text, charts, graphs, and tables.

I had the unique opportunity to tour two different oil sands operations near Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta. I saw a massive open-pit oil sands mine, and the associated reclamation effort, operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. I also visited an in situ oil sands recovery project called Surmont, operated by ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).

In the energy market, crude oil for August delivery rose 74 cents from Monday to close at $64.72/barrel. August reformulated gasoline climbed more than 2 cents to finish at $1.812/gallon.

In the energy market, crude oil for August delivery rose 27 cents from Wednesday to close at $60.41/barrel. August reformulated gasoline gained more than 3 cents to finish at $1.6638/gallon.

In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for August delivery accelerated its slide, closing at $60.14/barrel, down $2.79. August reformulated gasoline lost 9.95 cents, to $1.6333/gallon.

In the energy market on Tuesday, crude for August delivery prolonged its slide, closing at $62.93/barrel, down $1.12. August reformulated gasoline lost a penny, to $1.73/gallon.

In the energy market on Friday, crude for August delivery slipped, closing at $69.16/barrel, down $1.07. July reformulated gasoline lost 2.42 cents, to $1.8741/gallon.

In the energy market on Friday, crude for July delivery slipped, closing at $68.44/barrel, down 37 cents. July reformulated gasoline fell three-quarters of a cent, to $1.9546/gallon.

In the energy market on Thursday, crude for July delivery shot higher, closing at $69.15/barrel, up $3.03. July reformulated gasoline rose 7.19 cents, edging ever closer to the $2 mark, at $1.9735/gallon.