From $1.80 to $100 in 37 years

Key milestones in the price of crude oil since 1970. On Wednesday, the price of a barrel of light sweet crude, the benchmark oil price in New York, broke through $100 for the first time.

– 1970: The official price of Saudi crude oil is fixed at $1.80 a barrel.


– 1974: Prices pass $10 after the first oil shock, sparked by the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

– 1979: Prices pass $20 as the Islamic revolution in Iran causes a second oil shock.

– 1980: Prices top $30 for the first time and progress to $39 in early 1981 at the height of the war between Iran and Iraq.

– Sept-Oct 1990: Prices sneak above $40 amid tension over Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

– March 2003: On the eve of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the price stands at just over $37.

– Sept 2004: Amid tensions caused by the war in Iraq, prices breach $50.

– June 2005: Prices shoot above $60.

– Aug 2005: Prices rise above $70 when Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf of Mexico, damaging major offshore oil installations.

– Sept 12, 2007: Prices pass $80 as the market worries about the level of US stocks and increasing tension over Iran.

– Oct 18, 2007: Prices go above $90 in electronic dealing.

– Oct 26, 2007: Prices pass the $92 mark before floor trading opens, fuelled by fears of Turkish military intervention in Iraq and new US sanctions against Iran.

– Oct 29, 2007: Prices pass the $93 mark, affected by temporary reduction in Mexican production due to bad weather.

– Oct 31, 2007: The $94 and $95 marks are passed after the publication of data showing a strong decrease in US stocks and a decision by the US Federal Reserve bank to drop its interest rates again.

– Nov 1, 2007: For the same reasons the $96 mark is topped.

– Nov 6, 2007: The $97 mark is passed due to speculation about a new drop in US oil reserves.

– Nov 7, 2007: Prices hit a new record above $98 and close in on 100 dollars a barrel.

– Nov 21, 2007: A fresh record of $99.29 is reached as traders react to tight global energy supplies amid sizzling tensions between Turkey and Iraq. But prices fall back below $90 dollars by the end of the month.

– Dec 28, 2007: Oil prices hit $97.79 after the murder of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and following a sixth successive weekly drop in US crude reserves.

– Jan 2, 2008: Prices hit $100.