Historical Crude Oil Prices (Table)

Oil Prices 1946-Present

The first table shows the Annual Average Crude Oil Price from 1946 to the present. Prices are adjusted for Inflation to December 2022 prices using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) as presented by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Note: The first table presents ANNUAL Average prices they will not show the absolute peak price and will differ slightly from the Monthly Averages in our Oil Price Data in Chart Form.

The second table presents the monthly average crude oil prices for Illinois Sweet Crude plus their inflation-adjusted prices.

Inflation-adjusted oil prices reached an all-time low in 1998 (lower than the price in 1946)! And then just ten years later, in June 2008, Oil prices were at an all-time monthly high for crude oil (above the 1979-1980 prices) in real inflation-adjusted terms (although not quite on an annual basis).

Prices are based on historical free market (stripper) oil prices of Illinois Crude as presented by Illinois Oil and Gas Association and Plains All American Oil. Typically Illinois Crude is a couple of dollars cheaper per barrel than West Texas Intermediate (WTI) because it requires a bit more refining.

Price-controlled prices were lower during the 1970s but resulted in artificially created gas lines and shortages and do not reflect the true free market price. Stripper prices were allowed for individual wells under special circumstances (i.e., the wells were at the end of their life cycle), but the oil they produced represented the actual free-market prices of the time.

In January 2023 WTI Crude Averaged $74.96 and Illinois Sweet Averaged $71.46. In November Illinois Sweet Averaged $70.32

2023 Crude Oil Prices

	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Apr-23	May-23	Jun-23	Jul-23	Aug-23	Sep-23	Oct-23	Nov-23
Nominal	$71.46	$69.70	$66.28	$72.22	$64.58	$63.42	$68.65	$74.42	$82.07	$78.81	$70.32
Inf. Adj.	$73.34	$71.14	$67.42	$73.09	$65.20	$63.82	$68.95	$74.42	$81.87	$78.65	$70.32

2022 Crude Oil Prices

In February, the average monthly price for Illinois Crude Oil was $84.70, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was selling for $88.20.

A month later, Illinois Crude Oil was up to $101.92, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was selling for $105.42.

By April 12^th, Illinois Crude was down to $93.58, with the monthly average at $98.34.

In May, Illinois Crude averaged $97.67, and a month later, it averaged $107.12. From there, releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) helped hold prices down, but now, with OPEC limiting production and the SPR reserves low, prices could start increasing again. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the EIA hasn’t updated their SPR reserves data on their website since December. In December the SPR was drawn down by -42% from 2020 levels (and even more from 2010 levels), crude oil prices have continued to fall, averaging $69.70 in February 2023.

See: Historical Inflation Adjusted Crude Oil Prices in Chart (graph) Form

Annual Average Domestic Crude Oil Prices

Updated December 12, 2023

Annual Average Domestic Crude Oil Prices (in $/Barrel)
1946-Present
Year	Nominal Price	Inflation-Adjusted Price (November 2023)
1946	$1.63	$25.24
1947	$2.16	$29.66
1948	$2.77	$35.39
1949	$2.77	$35.72
1950	$2.77	$35.36
1951	$2.77	$32.77
1952	$2.77	$32.04
1953	$2.92	$33.44
1954	$2.99	$34.19
1955	$2.93	$33.54
1956	$2.94	$33.24
1957	$3.14	$34.30
1958	$3.00	$31.92
1959	$3.00	$31.60
1960	$2.91	$30.24
1961	$2.85	$29.28
1962	$2.85	$28.93
1963	$2.91	$29.20
1964	$3.00	$29.70
1965	$3.01	$29.32
1966	$3.10	$29.33
1967	$3.12	$28.73
1968	$3.18	$28.03
1969	$3.32	$27.80
1970	$3.39	$26.82
1971	$3.60	$27.30
1972	$3.60	$26.44
1973	$4.75	$32.58
1974	$9.35	$58.14
1975	$12.21	$69.63
1976	$13.10	$70.70
1977	$14.40	$72.92
1978	$14.95	$70.42
1979	$25.10	$105.19
1980	$37.42	$139.61
1981	$35.75	$120.90
1982	$31.83	$101.35
1983	$29.08	$89.68
1984	$28.75	$85.00
1985	$26.92	$76.84
1986	$14.44	$40.44
1987	$17.75	$47.96
1988	$14.87	$38.66
1989	$18.33	$45.39
1990	$23.19	$54.34
1991	$20.20	$45.54
1992	$19.25	$42.12
1993	$16.75	$35.62
1994	$15.66	$32.43
1995	$16.75	$33.76
1996	$20.46	$40.03
1997	$18.64	$35.66
1998	$11.91	$22.44
1999	$16.56	$30.45
2000	$27.39	$48.82
2001	$23.00	$39.90
2002	$22.81	$38.91
2003	$27.69	$46.23
2004	$37.66	$61.17
2005	$50.04	$78.60
2006	$58.30	$88.78
2007	$64.20	$94.90
2008	$91.48	$130.04
2009	$53.48	$76.40
2010	$71.21	$100.27
2011	$87.04	$118.82
2012	$86.46	$115.65
2013	$91.17	$120.16
2014	$85.60	$110.98
2015	$41.85	$54.21
2016	$36.34	$46.44
2017	$43.97	$55.07
2018	$57.77	$70.63
2019	$50.01	$60.06
2020	$32.25	$38.23
2021	$ 60.84	$68.80
2022	$ 87.40	$91.76
2023 (Partial)	$ 70.58	$71.66

Monthly Prices

Monthly Average Domestic Crude Oil Prices
2011-2023
Year	Nominal Price	Inflation Adjusted Price (November 2023)
Jan-11	$84.47	$117.77
Feb-11	$81.32	$112.83
Mar-11	$94.72	$130.15
Apr-11	$102.15	$139.46
May-11	$92.92	$126.26
Jun-11	$87.92	$119.60
Jul-11	$88.82	$120.72
Aug-11	$77.72	$105.34
Sep-11	$77.31	$104.62
Oct-11	$78.00	$105.78
Nov-11	$88.78	$120.49
Dec-11	$90.30	$122.86
Jan-12	$91.71	$124.23
Feb-12	$94.06	$126.86
Mar-12	$98.04	$131.23
Apr-12	$95.11	$126.93
May-12	$86.20	$115.17
Jun-12	$74.33	$99.46
Jul-12	$79.65	$106.75
Aug-12	$87.13	$116.13
Sep-12	$87.89	$116.62
Oct-12	$82.54	$109.56
Nov-12	$79.67	$106.26
Dec-12	$81.23	$108.63
Jan-13	$87.65	$116.88
Feb-13	$88.40	$116.92
Mar-13	$86.23	$113.74
Apr-13	$84.83	$112.02
May-13	$87.93	$115.90
Jun-13	$88.58	$116.48
Jul-13	$97.77	$128.51
Aug-13	$101.75	$133.58
Sep-13	$99.40	$130.35
Oct-13	$93.69	$123.17
Nov-13	$86.96	$114.56
Dec-13	$90.90	$119.76
Jan-14	$87.82	$115.28
Feb-14	$93.44	$122.20
Mar-14	$93.66	$121.71
Apr-14	$95.20	$123.30
May-14	$94.82	$122.38
Jun-14	$98.18	$126.48
Jul-14	$95.46	$123.03
Aug-14	$89.20	$115.15
Sep-14	$86.07	$111.02
Oct-14	$77.44	$100.15
Nov-14	$68.62	$89.22
Dec-14	$47.25	$61.79
Jan-15	$40.96	$53.81
Feb-15	$43.85	$57.36
Mar-15	$40.74	$52.98
Apr-15	$47.10	$61.12
May-15	$52.45	$67.72
Jun-15	$52.74	$67.86
Jul-15	$44.43	$57.16
Aug-15	$36.17	$46.60
Sep-15	$38.41	$49.56
Oct-15	$39.40	$50.86
Nov-15	$35.73	$46.22
Dec-15	$30.27	$39.30
Jan-16	$25.27	$32.75
Feb-16	$23.58	$30.53
Mar-16	$31.08	$40.08
Apr-16	$34.01	$43.64
May-16	$39.88	$50.97
Jun-16	$41.69	$53.11
Jul-16	$38.05	$48.55
Aug-16	$37.99	$48.43
Sep-16	$37.98	$48.30
Oct-16	$42.81	$54.38
Nov-16	$38.56	$49.06
Dec-16	$45.19	$57.47
Jan-17	$45.75	$57.85
Feb-17	$46.53	$58.65
Mar-17	$42.65	$53.71
Apr-17	$44.12	$55.40
May-17	$41.56	$52.14
Jun-17	$38.21	$47.90
Jul-17	$39.60	$49.67
Aug-17	$41.20	$51.53
Sep-17	$42.56	$52.95
Oct-17	$44.56	$55.47
Nov-17	$49.77	$61.95
Dec-17	$51.07	$63.61
Jan-18	$56.60	$70.11
Feb-18	$55.22	$68.10
Mar-18	$55.93	$68.81
Apr-18	$59.30	$72.67
May-18	$62.87	$76.73
Jun-18	$60.25	$73.42
Jul-18	$63.90	$77.85
Aug-18	$60.78	$74.02
Sep-18	$63.07	$76.71
Oct-18	$63.69	$77.34
Nov-18	$49.83	$60.71
Dec-18	$41.81	$51.09
Jan-19	$44.56	$54.36
Feb-19	$48.05	$58.37
Mar-19	$51.06	$61.68
Apr-19	$56.76	$68.20
May-19	$53.87	$64.59
Jun-19	$47.85	$57.36
Jul-19	$50.46	$60.39
Aug-19	$47.85	$57.27
Sep-19	$49.66	$59.39
Oct-19	$47.11	$56.21
Nov-19	$50.07	$59.77
Dec-19	$52.82	$63.11
Jan-20	$50.96	$60.65
Feb-20	$43.73	$51.91
Mar-20	$23.57	$28.04
Apr-20	$11.18	$13.39
May-20	$17.80	$21.32
Jun-20	$31.35	$37.34
Jul-20	$33.74	$39.99
Aug-20	$35.17	$41.55
Sep-20	$32.61	$38.47
Oct-20	$32.42	$38.23
Nov-20	$34.26	$40.42
Dec-20	$40.21	$47.40
Jan-21	$44.79	$52.57
Feb-21	$52.11	$60.84
Mar-21	$55.64	$64.50
Apr-21	$54.62	$62.80
May-21	$58.04	$66.20
Jun-21	$64.39	$72.77
Jul-21	$65.80	$74.00
Aug-21	$60.69	$68.12
Sep-21	$64.37	$72.05
Oct-21	$74.12	$82.28
Nov-21	$71.07	$78.51
Dec-21	$64.47	$71.00
Jan-22	$75.66	$82.63
Feb-22	$84.70	$91.67
Mar-22	$101.92	$108.85
Apr-22	$98.34	$104.44
May-22	$97.67	$102.60
Jun-22	$107.12	$111.00
Jul-22	$93.12	$96.51
Aug-22	$84.40	$87.50
Sep-22	$77.04	$79.70
Oct-22	$79.72	$82.14
Nov-22	$77.18	$79.60
Dec-22	$71.94	$74.43
Jan-23	$71.46	$73.34
Feb-23	$69.70	$71.14
Mar-23	$66.28	$67.42
Apr-23	$72.22	$73.09
May-23	$64.58	$65.20
Jun-23	$63.42	$63.82
Jul-23	$68.65	$68.95
Aug-23	$74.42	$74.42
Sep-23	$82.07	$81.87
Oct-23	$78.81	$78.65
Nov-23	$70.32	$70.32

Data Sources:

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