Today's chart provides some long-term perspective on the price of a barrel of crude oil with a long-term chart of inflation-adjusted West Texas Intermediate Crude. Today's chart illustrates that most oil price spikes coincided with Middle East crises and often preceded or coincided with a US recession. The logic behind this is that a Middle East crisis can potentially disrupt an already tight oil supply and thereby drive crude oil prices higher. Also, rising oil / energy prices can, among other things, increase costs within the global economy’s supply / distribution chain and thereby contribute to inflation which can in turn encourage governments to halt or reduce any plans to stimulate the economy. It’s worth noting that crude oil prices have surged over the past 10 days and are once again approaching the $100 per barrel level.
