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2000s energy crisis
Sixfold rise in oil prices, peaking in 2008 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From the mid-1980s to September 2003, the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX was generally under US$25/barrel in 2008 dollars. During 2003, the price rose above $30, reached $60 by 11 August 2005, and peaked at $147.30 in July 2008.[1] Commentators attributed these price increases to many factors, including Middle East tension, soaring demand from China,[2] the falling value of the U.S. dollar, reports showing a decline in petroleum reserves,[3][4] worries over peak oil,[5] and financial speculation.[6]
![]() Medium term crude oil prices Jan. 2003 – Nov. 2008, (not adjusted for inflation) | |
Date | 2003 (2003)–2008 (2008) |
---|---|
Also known as | Third oil crisis |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Oil_prices_to_gas_prices_graph.png/640px-Oil_prices_to_gas_prices_graph.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Natural_gas_prices.webp/640px-Natural_gas_prices.webp.png)
For a time, geopolitical events and natural disasters had strong short-term effects on oil prices, such as North Korean missile tests,[7] the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon,[8] worries over Iranian nuclear plans in 2006,[9] Hurricane Katrina,[10] and various other factors.[11] By 2008, such pressures appeared to have an insignificant impact on oil prices given the onset of the global recession.[12] The recession caused demand for energy to shrink in late 2008, with oil prices collapsing from the July 2008 high of $147 to a December 2008 low of $32.[13] However, it has been disputed that the laws of supply and demand of oil could have been responsible for an almost 80% drop in the oil price within a six-month period.[14] Oil prices stabilized by August 2009 and generally remained in a broad trading range between $70 and $120 through November 2014,[15] before returning to 2003 pre-crisis levels by early 2016, as US production increased dramatically. The United States went on to become the largest oil producer by 2018.[16]