please, have a look there :
http://commoditymodels.com/ .on the right, you will find various "recent posts" on forward/futures prices.the author of this blog (william smith) is doing research on oil price curves for his Phd.and, you might be interested in the writings of Pr Helyette Geman (just google her name). She actually is a big brain and THE worldwide reference in commodities modelling IMO. Nassim Taleb studied under her direction !