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What a difference a decade makes.
As crude oil nears $100 a barrel, it's hard to believe that black gold was trading under $11 a barrel as recently as December 1998.
Fast forward five years from that day to a time when the oil market may have changed irrevocably. Though the Persian Gulf War had been won, a hefty risk premium was built into prices.
Crude Oil MIlestones |
| Date | Price | Level |
| April 7, 1983 | $30.17 | $30 |
| Oct. 9, 1990 | $40.40 | $40 |
| Oct 1, 2004 | $50.12 | $50 |
| June 27, 2005 | $60.54 | $60 |
| April 17, 2006 | $70.14 | $70 |
| Sept. 13, 2007 | $80.09 | $80 |
| Oct. 25, 2007 | $90.46 | $90 |
By the spring of 2004, crude had eclipsed the long-standing record high of $40.40 set in October 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Prices drifted back briefly, but by October of 2004, the benchmark U.S. crude had broken through $50 a barrel -- something many once thought was improbable, if not impossible.
In 2005, a Goldman Sachs report predicting a super-spike and $100-a-barrel oil brought cries of incredulity and at least a few chuckles.
What seems downright unbelievable today is that about a year ago, crude oil was trading at $50.
Inflation-adjusted or not, oil is sky high. Here’s a look at crude oil prices over the past two decades and major milestones on the way to $100 a barrel.
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Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes