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Forty Years of Oil Price Fluctuations: Why the Price of Oil May Still Surprise Us

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  • Baumeister, Christiane
  • Kilian, Lutz

Abstract

It has been forty years since the oil crisis of 1973/74. This crisis has been one of the defining economic events of the 1970s and has shaped how many economists think about oil price shocks. In recent years, a large literature on the economic determinants of oil price fluctuations has emerged. Drawing on this literature, we first provide an overview of the causes of all major oil price fluctuations between 1973 and 2014. We then discuss why oil price fluctuations remain difficult to predict, despite economists’ improved understanding of oil markets. Unexpected oil price fluctuations are commonly referred to as oil price shocks. We document that, in practice, consumers, policymakers, financial market participants and economists may have different oil price expectations, and that, what may be surprising to some, need not be equally surprising to others.

Suggested Citation

  • Baumeister, Christiane & Kilian, Lutz, 2016. "Forty Years of Oil Price Fluctuations: Why the Price of Oil May Still Surprise Us," CEPR Discussion Papers 11035, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11035
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tuomas Komulainen & ) & Johanna Lukkarila, 2003. "What drives financial crises in emerging markets?," Macroeconomics 0304010, EconWPA.
    2. Kilian, Lutz & Lee, Thomas K., 2014. "Quantifying the speculative component in the real price of oil: The role of global oil inventories," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 71-87.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Oil market; Oil price expectations; Oil price shock; Peak oil; Unconventional oil;

    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy

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