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Oil Price History Chart (Inflation-Adjusted) – 1946-Present

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Oil WellHistorical Oil Prices – Key Facts

  • The highest inflation-adjusted oil price occurred in June 2008, equivalent to about $214 per barrel today.
  • The lowest modern price occurred during the April 2020 COVID oil glut, when daily oil prices bottomed around $11 per barrel (monthly average $19.23).
  • The average inflation-adjusted oil price since 1946 is about $63.72 per barrel.
  • Previous price spikes occurred in 1980, 2008, 2011, and 2022.
Page Contents:

“Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have reignighted oil volatility and driving oil above $100 per barrel since March 2026.”

Oil Price History Over Time

Crude oil prices have fluctuated dramatically over time, reflecting changes in global supply, demand, geopolitics, and economic growth. In the decades following World War II, oil remained relatively inexpensive in real terms, but prices surged during the 1973–1974 Arab oil embargo and again after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, triggering the energy crises of the 1970s. Oil prices later collapsed in the mid-1980s as new production and conservation reduced demand.

Another major surge occurred during the 2000s commodity boom, when crude briefly reached record levels in 2008 before falling during the global financial crisis. Since then, oil markets have continued to experience cycles driven by factors such as shale production, OPEC policy, economic growth, and geopolitical tensions, making long-term historical charts useful for understanding how current oil prices compare with past highs and lows.

For detailed yearly data, see our Historical Oil Prices Table.

Crude Oil Prices in Inflation-Adjusted Terms

This Chart presents Monthly Average Crude Oil Prices and Inflation-Adjusted Oil Prices (adjusted to May 2026 prices).

An interesting NPR story about How An Engineer’s Desperate Experiment Created Fracking and Twenty years later, the U.S. was the biggest oil and natural gas producer on the planet due primarily to hydraulic fracking.

In this chart, we can see:

  1. In June 2008, oil peaked at a nominal price of $139.96 (inflation-adjusted price of $214.35)
  2. Oil prices fell to the ridiculously low COVID-induced glut price of $19.23 in April 2020 (inflation-adjusted $25.14).
  3. The average inflation-adjusted price for crude oil since 1946 is $63.72, which is still about one-third of the 2008 peak price.
  4. The average inflation-adjusted price since 1980 is higher at $80.80
  5. The average inflation-adjusted price since 2000 is even higher at $91.53

The increase in the average inflation-adjusted prices over more recent periods indicates that oil prices are increasing faster than inflation, possibly indicating the increasing difficulty in finding and recovering oil. The extreme volatility of oil prices tends to mask this trend.

Real Price of Oil

When economists say the “Real Price of Oil” they are referring to the Inflation-Adjusted Price.  Nominal oil prices (the actual price at the time) alone can be misleading because inflation changes the purchasing power of money over time.

To compare prices across decades, economists calculate the real price of oil by adjusting for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This allows analysts to see whether oil is truly expensive relative to historical norms.

Inflation-Adjusted Crude Oil Chart

Updated June 11, 2026

The red line on the chart shows Crude oil prices adjusted for inflation in May 2026 dollars. The black line indicates the nominal price (in other words, the price you would have actually paid at the time). The horizontal lines indicate the average inflation-adjusted price for different periods, i.e., since 1946, since 1980, and since 2000.

The nominal price for a barrel of Crude Oil peaked in May 2022 at $114.38, which, on an inflation-adjusted basis, was $131.14, which wasn’t as high as previous peaks like April 2011 or June 2008, when it was the equivalent of $168.96 and $214.35.

How to Read This Chart

  • The black line shows the nominal price of crude oil.
  • The red line shows the inflation-adjusted price.
  • Horizontal lines represent the average “real” (inflation-adjusted) price for different time periods.

Inflation Adj Crude Oil Price Chart Jun-2026

 

The major peaks occurred in April 1980, June 2008, April 2011, and May 2022 in inflation-adjusted terms. Another interesting item to note is that the inflation-adjusted average price (horizontal lines) has been increasing, as mentioned above.  This may be the result of increased extraction costs as oil becomes harder to find, and it requires much greater technology to extract it.

Data Source: MacroTrends, Inflation Adjusted using CPI-U.

What was the Highest Oil Price Ever?

The answer often depends on whether you are talking about actual (nominal) or inflation-adjusted prices. Because prices are always creeping up due to inflation, the current nominal price might be higher, but when you adjust for inflation, it might not be. But in the case of oil, so far, both the nominal and inflation-adjusted peaks occurred in June of 2008. From there, we see one of the sharpest drops in history. Note that the fall from the 1980 peak took until 1986 (7 years) to fall as much (percentage-wise) as Crude lost in only six months from 2008-2009.

At the 1980 peak, the nominal monthly average oil price reached $39.50 per barrel (although the intraday prices spiked much higher).

Nominal Oil Prices:

In nominal terms, we see a massive fall from $139.96 in June 2008 to $41.73 in January 09. So, Oil prices fell almost $100 (~60%) in just over 6 months!

But then it began rebounding, and by April of 2011, it was back to $113.39  ($168.98 inflation-adjusted). Fortunately, it topped there. The average for the year 2011 was $96.79. 2012 was very close, with the nominal average price being $94.03. Crude oil prices rose in 2013 to an average price of $97.57. But by 2015 the average was back down to  $49.19. So we saw another sharp drop, almost as sharp as in 2008.

The common price quoted is the all-time high for Crude Oil prices, i.e., the price that the highest barrel ever sold for. That price doesn’t really have much effect on the price consumers paid. What really matters is the average price the refineries had to pay for the whole month.

Adjusted for inflation, the 1980 $39.50 peak oil price is the equivalent of paying $163.42 today. (Note: This number is constantly changing as we adjust for inflation at the current moment.)

Interestingly, during the 1990s, prices fell so far from the 1990 peak that by December 1998 (on an inflation-adjusted basis), crude prices were about the same as they were in 1946. The inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of oil in April 1946 was $23.13, while in November 1998, it was $23.23.

In the 2008 run-up, the annual average price for all of 2008 was nominally $98.69 or $153.21 inflation-adjusted.

As we can see from the chart, inflation-adjusted prices were higher in 2008 than in either 2011 or 1980. But after 1980, the prices stair-stepped down, while in 2008 prices crashed down. Part of the reason for this was that 2008 prices were driven by a speculative bubble, while 1979-80 prices were driven up by OPEC. Another factor in the sharp fall in prices in 2008 was the market crash, which drove all prices and demand down due to a lack of market liquidity.

Major Oil Price Events

  • 1973–1974: Arab Oil Embargo
  • 1979–1980: Iranian Revolution oil shock
  • 1986: Oil price collapse from global oversupply
  • 2008: Commodity super-cycle peak
  • 2020: COVID demand collapse

Frequently Asked Questions About Oil Prices

  1. What was the highest oil price ever?
    On an intra-day basis, Oil reached about $147 per barrel in July 2008, the highest nominal price in history. The highest inflation-adjusted price was in June 2008.
  2. What is the average historical oil price?
    The long-term inflation-adjusted average oil price since WWII is roughly $55–$65 per barrel.
  3. Why do oil prices spike?
    Oil prices typically spike during wars, supply disruptions, or periods of strong global economic growth. If demand exceeds supply, either because of supply restrictions or a booming economy that is using more oil than can be produced, prices are driven up.

For more information, see

Annual Average Oil Prices in Table Form.

Data Sources:

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