Crude Oil Price History 1950-2008

Posted by Oilism.com on December 15th, 2007 at 05:55pm

One thing is for sure, over time crude oil prices fluctuate a lot. Any investigation of historical crude oil prices will reveal interesting trends and trade signals. For a part this can be explained by seasonal trends which are more easy to forecast than political tensions. We strongly suggest the usage of precise weather forecast data within your crude oil strategy. For example, many people may think in winter time crude oil will climb fast. But in reality and after studying many of raw data sets; In winter the crude oil price slowly climbs as the demand for heating oil increases. In the spring crude oil prices change slightly but rise again in the summer. Thereby any event that can significantly changes the demand or supply for crude oil will shift prices.

But also in the time dimension interesting information can be found in the crude oil price history chart. 
In 1950 an average of $2.49 USD is registered for a barrel of crude oil. Without take notice of price inflation correction, the average crude oil price in 1960 was $2.91 and in 1970 still just $3.18 a barrel.

Around 1980 the oil price increased drastic to a yearly average of $21.59. From 1990 till 2000 the crude oil prices hovered from $20.03 to $26.72, respectively. Now, around the beginning of 2008 crude oil futures are settled around the 90$. It is worth noticing that the historic crude oil price of 1950 of $2.49 ends up $19.71, adjusted for inflation.

Under Oil price+ energy prices