Price Trends


Source: Energy Intelligence


Key Dates

1. 1859 Col. Edwin Drake strikes oil 69ft below the surface of the ground in Titusville, Pennsylvania, USA
   
   
2. 1870 John D. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil Company
   
   
3. 1885 Oil discovered in Sumatra by Royal Dutch
   
   
4. 1901 Spindletop gusher
   
   
5. 1907 Shell and Royal Dutch merged to form Royal Dutch Shell
   
   
6. 1914 World War I, the first conflict where control of oil supply really mattered
   
   
7. 1943 The first "50-50" deal in Venezuela
   
   
8. 1948 Standard of New Jersey (Exxon) and Socony-Vacuum (Mobil) join Standard of California (Chevron) and Texaco in Aramco
   
   
9. 1951 Anglo Iranian Oil Company nationalised
   
   
10. 1960 OPEC founded in Baghdad
    
    
11. 1972 Iraq nationalises Iraq Petroleum Concession
    
    
12. 1973 Iran nationalises oil assets. Arab oil embargo — oil prices rise from $2.90 to $11.65; Yom Kippur War
    
    
13. 1974 International Energy Agency created
    
    
14. 1975 First oil production from North Sea
    
    
15. 1979 Iranian Revolution
    
    
16. 1979-1981 Oil prices rise from $13.00 to $34.00
    
    
17. 1982 OPEC's first quotas
    
    
18. 1986 Oil price collapse
    
    
19. 1990 August, Iraq invades Kuwait, UN embargo on Iraq
    
    
20. 1998 BP announces plans to acquire Amoco for $48.2 billion; Exxon to acquire  Mobil for $75.4 billion; other mega-mergers follow
    
    
21. 2003 US led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein toppled

Source: Energy Intelligence