The Gulf supply shock
Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait disrupted oil supplies and sent crude prices sharply higher. Explore the surge and the subsequent reversal.
OIL IN CONTEXT
History.
The shocks that moved oil. Explore decades of prices, then zoom into the moments that changed the market.
WTI Spot Price
USD per Barrel · Nominal PricesLoading historical prices…
Select an event below to zoom in. Point at the chart to inspect a price; on a keyboard, focus the chart and use the left and right arrow keys.
Explore the shocks.
Boom to financial crisis
Oil climbed to record levels in mid-2008 before falling steeply as the financial crisis deepened and the global economy contracted. The marker identifies Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, one event in the wider crisis.
The supply-driven slide
Growing oil supplies and a weaker demand outlook contributed to a prolonged price decline. The marker identifies OPEC’s November 2014 decision to maintain its production target.
The pandemic collapse
Travel restrictions reduced oil demand as storage availability tightened. On April 20, the expiring May WTI futures contract settled below zero; the daily WTI spot series also recorded a negative price. Brent remained positive. Spot and futures are different series.
War and supply uncertainty
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heightened supply uncertainty in an already tight oil market. Prices rose sharply, then eased later in the year as market conditions changed.
About the data.
Daily spot-price observations from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, restored from Oilshock’s archived snapshot retrieved on October 27, 2026. WTI: 1986-01-02 to 2026-10-20. Brent: 1987-05-20 to 2026-10-20. This is a fixed historical dataset, not a live feed. Prices are in U.S. dollars per barrel and are not adjusted for inflation.
WTI is the Cushing, Oklahoma spot series; Brent is the Europe Brent spot series. These differ from futures contracts and the indicative instruments used elsewhere on Oilshock. In April 2020, both the expiring WTI futures contract and this daily WTI spot series recorded negative prices. The chart retains the negative spot observation; Brent remained positive in this snapshot.
Event markers provide context, not proof that one event explains an entire price movement. The displayed series begin in 1986 (WTI) and 1987 (Brent), so the 1970s oil shocks fall outside this chart.