Price of oil

The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel (42 U.S. gallons; 159 liters) of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC Reference Basket, Tapis crude, Bonny Light, Urals oil, Isthmus, and Western Canadian Select (WCS) among others. Oil prices are determined by global supply and demand, rather than any country's domestic production level, although the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel increases oil prices.

Through the years

Before oil, whale oil was used in lamps, as lubrication, etc. It was very expensive.

In 1804, its price was $0.5/gallon or $21/barrel, which is $575 per barrel in 2025 dollars. Beginning in the 1850s, petroleum quickly replaced whale oil use.

The global price of crude oil was relatively consistent in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. This changed in the 1970s, with a significant increase in the price of oil globally.

There have been a number of structural drivers of global oil prices historically, including oil supply, demand, and storage shocks, and shocks to global economic growth affecting oil prices.

Notable events driving significant price fluctuations include the 1973 OPEC oil embargo targeting nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War, resulting in the 1973 oil crisis, the Iranian Revolution in the 1979 oil crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2010s oil glut that led to the "largest oil price declines in modern history" in 2014 to 2016.