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Visualizing Historical Oil Prices (1968-2022)

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This infographic is available as a poster.

Line chart shows historical oil prices from 1968-2022 with annotations to show what happened during major events. For instance, the price of oil dropped during the global financial crisis and rose during the war in Ukraine.

This infographic is available as a poster.

Historical Oil Prices (1968-2022)

Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the inflation-adjusted price of oil reached a seven-year high. Russia is one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil, and many countries have announced a ban on Russian oil imports amid the war. This has led to supply uncertainties and, therefore, rising prices.

How does the price increase compare to previous political and economic events? In this Markets in a Minute from New York Life Investments, we look at historical oil prices since 1968.

The Fundamentals Behind Oil Prices

Before diving into the data, it’s worth explaining why historical oil prices have seen so much volatility. This mainly stems from the fact that the supply and demand of oil tends to have a low responsiveness to price changes in the short term.

  • On the supply side, oil production capacity can be challenging to change quickly. Drilling a new oil well is a lengthy and complex process.
    • On the demand side, it can be quite difficult to change equipment that uses petroleum products. For instance, in the short term, people will keep driving their cars to work despite higher gas prices.

    For these reasons, in order to re-balance supply and demand, it takes a sufficiently large price change to occur. For example, if gas prices were to double, only then may enough commuters consider taking public transit or changing behavior in other ways.

    What kind of events can shock the system enough to drive big price changes?

    A large portion of the world’s oil is located in regions that are prone to political conflict. Political events can disrupt the actual or perceived supply of oil, and drive prices upwards. On the other hand, an economic downturn reduces energy demand and can depress prices.

    Looking Back at Historical Oil Prices

    To compare how events have influenced historical oil prices, we used data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It should be noted that the data extends to March 31, 2022, and does not reflect the recent price dips in response to Shanghai lockdowns and U.S. rate hikes.

    Here is the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil during select events.

    DateEventCrude Oil Price per Barrel
    Real 2010 Dollars
    Q1 1971U.S. spare capacity exhausted$13.47
    Q1 1973Arab Oil Embargo$15.90
    Q1 1974Embargo lifted$42.00
    Q1 1978Iranian Revolution$39.65
    Q3 1980Official start of Iran-Iraq war$76.93
    Q1 1986Saudis abandon swing producer role$32.90
    Q2 1990Trough price prior to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait$26.72
    Q3 1990Iraq invades Kuwait$39.37
    Q4 1990Peak price during invasion$47.15
    Q2 1991Iraq accepts UN resolution to end conflict$30.18
    Q4 1996Peak price prior to Asian financial crisis$31.88
    Q3 1997Asian financial crisis begins$25.35
    Q1 1999OPEC cuts production target by 1.7M b/d$16.41
    Q4 2000Peak price prior to 9/11$38.73
    Q3 20019/11 attacks$31.76
    Q4 2001Trough price after 9/11$24.22
    Q1 2005Low spare capacity$54.71
    Q2 2008Peak price before global financial collapse$125.21
    Q1 2009OPEC cuts production targets by 4.2M b/d$42.89
    Q2 2014Peak price prior to supply gut price collapse$95.07
    Q1 2015OPEC production quota unchanged despite low prices$44.41
    Q4 2019Price immediately prior to global pandemic$50.38
    Q1 2020COVID-19 declared a pandemic$40.34
    Q2 2020Trough price during global pandemic$24.65
    Q1 2022Russia invades Ukraine$77.94

    From the first quarter of 1968 until the second quarter of 1986, data reflects the reporter refiner acquisition cost. From the third quarter of 1986 to the first quarter of 2022, data reflects the West Texas Intermediate cost.

    In 1973, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an embargo (ban) on oil exports to the United States. The move was in response to the U.S. providing military aid to Israel. By the time the embargo ended in March 1974, the inflation-adjusted price of crude oil had risen 164%. The embargo also led to a selloff in the stock market, with the recovery taking almost six years.

    Historical oil prices rose rapidly from 2004-2008. During that time, economic growth was fueling oil demand but there was little spare production capacity. By the second quarter of 2008, inflation-adjusted oil prices hit a high of $125 per barrel. They crashed by 66% shortly thereafter due to the global financial crisis.

    Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment measures caused historical oil prices to drop by nearly 40% in three months. Oil prices have since risen 216% from their pandemic low, as of the first quarter of 2022. This is due to the economic recovery and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Oil as an Investment

    Investors’ interest in oil as an alternative investment has risen in recent years. Given the high volatility in historical oil prices, investors may want to consider their comfort with this level of risk. Of course, an investor’s sustainability goals may also be a factor when choosing whether to invest in oil.

    However, oil also presents opportunities. It has had low-to-negative correlation with U.S. bonds in recent years and may help investors diversify their portfolios. Not only that, it may help investors manage rising interest rates. An economic recovery typically leads to rising interest rates, but also more energy demand. Oil prices have historically climbed during these periods.

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Markets in a Minute

The Average American’s Financial Portfolio by Account Type

From retirement plans to bank accounts, we show the percentage of an American’s financial portfolio that is typically held in each account.

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The Average American’s Financial Portfolio by Account Type

Where does the average American put their money? From retirement plans to banks, the typical financial portfolio includes a variety of accounts.

In this graphic from Morningstar, we explore what percentage of a person’s money is typically held within each account.

Breaking Down a Typical Financial Portfolio

People put the most money in employer retirement plans, which make up nearly two-fifths of the average financial portfolio. Bank accounts, which include checking, savings, and CDs, hold the second-largest percentage of people’s money.

Account Type% of Financial Portfolio
Employer retirement plan38%
Bank account23%
Brokerage/investment account14%
Traditional IRA10%
Roth IRA7%
Crypto wallet/account4%
Education savings account3%
Other1%

Source: Morningstar Voice of the Investor Report 2024, based on 1,261 U.S. respondents.

Outside of employer retirement plans and bank accounts, the average American keeps nearly 40% of their money in accounts that advisors typically help manage. For instance, people also hold a large portion of their assets in investment accounts and IRAs.

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Account Insight for Advisors

Given the large focus on retirement accounts in financial portfolios, advisors can clearly communicate how they will help investors achieve their retirement goals. Notably, Americans say that funding retirement accounts is a top financial goal in the next three years (39% of people), second only to reducing debt (40%).

Americans also say that building an emergency fund is one of their financial goals (35%), which can be supported by the money they hold in bank accounts. However, it can be helpful for advisors to educate clients on the lower return potential of savings accounts and CDs. In comparison, advisors can highlight that investment or retirement accounts can hold assets with more potential for building wealth, like mutual funds or ETFs. With this knowledge in mind, clients will be better able to balance short-term and long-term financial goals.

The survey results also highlight the importance of advisors staying up to date on emerging trends and products. People hold 4% of their money in crypto accounts on average, and nearly a quarter of people said they hold crypto assets like bitcoin. Advisors who educate themselves on these assets can more effectively answer investors’ questions.

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5 Factors Linked to Higher Investor Engagement

Engaged investors review their goals often and are more involved in decisions, but which factors are tied to higher investor engagement?

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5 Factors Linked to Higher Investor Engagement

Imagine two investors. One investor reviews their investment goals every quarter and actively makes decisions. The second investor hasn’t reviewed their goals in over a year and doesn’t take part in any investment decisions. Are there traits that the first, more involved investor would be more likely to have?

In this graphic from Morningstar, we explore five factors that are associated with high investor engagement.

Influences on Investor Engagement

Morningstar scores their Investor Engagement Index from a low of zero to a high of 100, which indicates full engagement. In their survey, they discovered five traits that are tied to higher average engagement levels among investors.

FactorInvestor Engagement Index Score (Max = 100)
Financial advisor relationshipDon’t work with financial advisor: 63
Work with financial advisor: 70
Sustainability alignmentNo actions/alignment: 63
Some/full alignment: 74
Trust in AILow trust: 61
High trust: 74
Risk toleranceConservative: 62
Aggressive: 76
Comfort making investment decisionsLow comfort: 42
High comfort: 76

Morningstar’s Investor Engagement Index is equally weighted based on retail investors’ responses to seven questions: feeling informed about composition and performance of investments, frequency of investment portfolio review, involvement in investment decision-making, understanding of investment concepts and financial markets, frequency of goals review, clarity of investment strategy aligning to long-term goals, and frequency of engagement in financial education activities.

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On average, people who work with financial advisors, have sustainability alignment, trust AI, and have a high risk tolerance are more engaged.

The starkest contrast was that people with high comfort making investment decisions have engagement levels that are nearly two times higher than those with low comfort. In fact, people with a high comfort level were significantly more likely to say they were knowledgeable about the composition and performance of their investments (84%) vs. those with low comfort (18%).

Personalizing Experiences Based on Engagement

Advisors can consider adjusting their approach depending on an investor’s engagement level. For example, if a client has an aggressive risk tolerance this may indicate the client is more engaged. Based on this, the advisor could check if the client would prefer more frequent portfolio reviews.

On the other hand, soft skills can play a key role for those who are less engaged. People with low comfort making investment decisions indicated that the top ways their financial advisor provides value is through optimizing for growth and risk management (62%), making them feel more secure about their financial future (38%), and offering peace of mind and relief from the stress of money management (30%).

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