History & Reference
The background to the numbers: price history back to 1990, the crises that moved the market, how the industry works, the geopolitics around oil, and plain-English explainers. 27 pages in 4 sections.
Price history
- Oil Price HistoryWTI & Brent annual averages side by side with the events behind major moves
- Prices vs InflationReal vs nominal WTI and Brent by year, deflated with BLS CPI-U
- WTI by YearAnnual average, high, low and close for WTI by year
- Brent by YearAnnual average, high, low and close for Brent by year
- Gas Prices by YearUS average retail gasoline price by year since 1990, diesel since 1994 (EIA weekly data)
- Diesel by YearUS diesel annual average/high/low since 1994
- Nat Gas by YearHenry Hub annual average/high/low since 2000
- Oil CrisesEvery major shock from the 1973 embargo to 2022
Industry and infrastructure
- Biggest Oil FieldsGhawar, Burgan, the Permian and other giants
- Biggest Oil SpillsLargest spills ranked by volume with causes and aftermath
- Oil TankersVLCC size classes, freight costs, the shadow fleet
- PipelinesMajor systems and how pipelines set regional spreads
- Offshore DrillingJackups to FPSOs, deepwater economics
- What Is LNGLiquefied natural gas explained, US export dominance
- LNG Exporters by CountryUS, Qatar and Australia lead; ranked, sourced figures for volume and capacity
Geopolitics and economics
- What Is OPECThe cartel explained with live member production
- Oil Sanctions ExplainedThe G7 price cap, the shadow fleet, and how Russia/Iran/Venezuela sanctions regimes differ
- Strait of HormuzThe world's most important oil chokepoint, ranked transit volumes, and a dated, IEA/EIA-sourced timeline of the 2026 closure
- PetrodollarWhy oil trades in dollars, with de-dollarization fact-checks
Explainers, facts and glossary
- Barrel of Oil42 gallons — what one barrel refines into, its weight and energy content
- How Oil Is FormedSource rock to trap, in plain English (not dinosaurs)
- What Is FrackingHydraulic fracturing explained, what it changed, honest risk discussion
- Oil UsesWorld demand by sector and everyday petroleum products
- Peak OilFrom supply-peak fears to the peak-demand debate
- Oil Facts & StatsShareable, live-computed stat cards (prices, production, records, history) with copy-to-clipboard sourced sentences
- Oil Fun FactsA new sourced oil and energy fact every day, with copy-to-clipboard and share buttons
- Glossary88 A–Z definitions — contango, backwardation, crack spread, API gravity, proved reserves, LNG, fracking, SPR, WTI vs Brent and more
More Categories
- Oil & Gas MarketsEverything on prices and trading in one place: the live dashboard and each commodity, the benchmark grades and spreads, energy stocks, and plain-English guides to how the futures market works.
- Forecasts, EIA & World Oil DataThe data side of the oil market: the EIA's official forecasts and weekly reports, who produces and consumes the world's oil and gas, how large the reserves are, and the trade, refining and weather factors that move supply.
- US Production, Basins & CompaniesWhere US oil and gas comes from: output by state, each shale and offshore basin with its rigs and operators, and the companies and royalty owners behind it.
- Fuel Prices, Home Energy & CalculatorsWhat energy costs at the pump and at home: weekly gasoline and diesel prices, state pages, heating fuels and electricity, plus calculators to turn the prices into trip, bill and fleet costs.
- Oil CountriesCountry-by-country oil profiles with production, reserves, trade and the national oil company. For rankings across countries see world production, reserves and the country comparison tool.
- Energy ToolsUnit converter, crack-spread, futures, yield, break-even, gas-tax, decline-curve and tank calculators.
- Site mapEvery page on the site in one list.