The linkages between oil and soya prices, and, more broadly, the link between food and fuel prices is investigated in this report by Judith Taylor, on ICIS News
(Disclosure: I work for ICIS: About ICIS)
Quoting from Judith's report for ICIS News.
Crude oil prices in the $70s/bbl mean refined soybean oil prices in the 40s cents/lb are the "new normal", Henry Bryant of Texas A&M University said on Thursday.
"With the expansion of production of renewables such as ethanol and biodiesel, the implication is that corn and soybean oil prices will be determined from the product's energy value as these increasingly become energy feedstocks," Bryant added.
The linkage is there and its going to get stronger. Do you want to live in a world where the price of crude determines the price of food? We need to push on with second generation biofuels and the use of non-food crops. It will matter less to more people if the price of corn stover is linked to oil, than if the price of food crops becomes more firmly linked to oil, currently at around $70/bbl and capable of rising.