It's Official - Oil Prices Have Surpassed 1981's Inflation-Adjusted Peak - Bloomberg

[hatrack]

EDIT

Crude oil for November delivery rose $1.43, or 1.7 percent, to $87.56 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures reached $88.20, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1983. This is the sixth straight daily gain. Prices are up 46 percent from a year ago. ``Once the invasion occurs, prices will probably fall because the oil fields are well south of the mountains on the Turkish border,'' said Lynch.

Yesterday, prices passed the previous all-time inflation- adjusted record reached in 1981 when Iran cut oil exports. The cost of oil used by U.S. refiners averaged $37.48 a barrel in March 1981, according to the Energy Department, or $84.73 in today's dollars.

Brent crude oil for November settlement rose $1.44, or 1.7 percent, to $84.19 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent reached $84.49, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1988.

Iraq's exports fell 100,000 barrels a day last month to 1.68 million barrels a day, after a Sept. 18 assault on a link from Kirkuk oil fields. The country's oil-rich northern region is controlled by a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration. Kirkuk is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the Turkish border.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&sid=asGKQvwCcvns&refer=energy

[GliderGuider]

1. Good. Niow at least we won't have to listen to that lame rationale any more.

"Hey, oil prices may look high, but they're still below the inflation adjusted high of 1981!" :eyes:

Well, I think we can all safely say that oil prices are high now.

[NickB79]

2. Why have I been reading that adjusted for inflation, oil was $98-$101/barrel in 1981?

I've read that statement several times in the past few weeks, which made me scratch my head as I thought that was far higher than previously stated. Anyone else seen this?

On edit: the New York Times today said exactly that:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/business/worldbusiness/16cnd-oil.html?_r=1&ref=worldbusiness&oref=slogin

"On an inflation-adjusted basis, today’s prices are getting close to records reached in the early 1980s when an energy crisis and the Iranian revolution pushed oil prices up to about $100 in today’s money."

[GliderGuider]

4. It's sleight of hand.

I think some economists have been recalculating the oil price using a "better" definition of inflation - i.e. one that makes it look as though we're not blasting off into the unknown just yet.

[hatrack]

5. Damn! I just realized - $88.20 = 2.32 Yergin Units

That's up an additional 3% in just one day!

[bullimiami]

3. and people say w is a failure. he is the most successful president in history.

for his base. who some may call "the haves and have mores"