Originally Posted by Starman

A brief history of oil prices. Approximate prices are for one barrel of crude oil on world markets, in 2006 U.S. dollars. ...
1978: Revolution sweeps the Shah of Iran from power and installs a radical Islamic government in the major oil producer. Prices rise to $42.

1980-91: OPEC's power and oil prices decline in the face of conservation efforts in Western countries.

1980: Iraq invades revolution-weakened Iran. $86.

1982: U.S. imposes price controls on domestic oil. $68.

1986: Oil demand and price drops to as low as $13 after global economic recession batters demand for oil. Plunging prices depress Alberta's oilpatch, which was still reeling from the impact of the National Energy Program imposed by the Liberal government of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

1990: The United States and allies launch the Gulf War to expel Iraqi invaders from Kuwait. $28

1998 - 1999: A flooded market and an economic crisis in Asia knocks prices down to a 50-year low of about $15, until OPEC cuts its production, sparking another price increase.

2000 - Series of OPEC quota cuts leads to higher oil prices. $21.

2001 - Prices rise to about $26 following Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

2003 - U.S. invasion of Iraq sparks a continuing upward trend in oil prices, to an average $32 in 2004 and $60 in 2006.

2007 - Rose to more than $98 before settling back into the low to mid-90s because of worries that a U.S. recession would depress demand.

Jan. 2, 2008 - Prices rise above US$100 a barrel for the first time ever, reaching that milestone amid an unshakeable view that global demand for oil and petroleum products, especially from fast-growing China and India, will continue to outstrip supplies.