Annual first purchase price of oil in the U.S. 1859-2021

After some fluctuation in the oil industry's early years, where prices were incredibly high for that time period due to low supply, the cost of oil in the U.S. remained below five U.S. dollars per barrel in the century between the 1870s and 1970s. Due to the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Arab OPEC states then placed an embargo on Israel's allies, particularly the United States, which resulted in domestic prices almost doubling within two years. Less than a decade later, due to the Iranian Revolution, domestic prices in the U.S. more than tripled between 1978 and 1981. Domestic prices in the U.S. were very subject to those within the OPEC bloc, as OPEC-produced oil was often much cheaper than U.S. oil even after duties and transport fees were applied. U.S. production then fell from the 1980s to the 2010s, and high production costs were then passed on to consumers. Prices peaked between 2008 and 2013, at around 95 dollars per barrel, before the developments in unconventional oil industries, such as shale oil refinement, fracking, and horizontal mining, have seen prices fall in recent years.