1. Opec raises tax rate and posted prices

2. Opec begins nationalising process, raises prices in response to falling US dollar

3. Negotiations for transfer of ownership of Western assets in Opec countries

4. Oil embargo begins

5. Opec freezes posted prices; US begins mandatory oil allocation

6. Oil embargo ends

7. Saudis increase tax rates and royalties

8. US crude oil entitlements programme begins

9. Opec announces 15 per cent revenue increase

10. Official Saudi Light price held constant for 1976

11. Iranian oil production hits 27-year low

12. Opec decides on a 14.5 per cent price increase

13. Iranian revolution

14. Opec price hike takes effect

15. US phases out price controls

16. Opec raises prices a further 15 per cent

17. Iran takes hostakes: President Carter halts imports from Iran; Iran cancels US contracts; non-Opec output hits 17 million b/d

18. Saudis raise market crude price from $19 a barrel to $26

19. Windfall profits tax enacted

20. Kuwait, Iran and Libya cut production; Opec oil production falls to 27 million b/d

21. Saudi Light rises to $28 a barrel

22. Saudi Light rises to $34 a barrel

23. First major fighting in Iran-Iraq war

24. President Reagan abolishes remaining price and allocation controls

25. Spot prices dominate official Opec prices

26. US boycotts Libyan crude; Opec plans 18 million-b/d output

27. Syria cuts off Iraqi pipeline

28. Libya initiates discounts; non-Opec output reaches 20 million b/d; Opec output drops to 15 million b/d

29. Opec cuts prices by $5 a barrel and agrees to 17.5 million-b/d output target

30. Norway, UK and Nigeria cut prices

31. Opec accord cuts Saudi Light price to $28 a barrel

32. Opec output falls to 13.7 million b/d

33. Saudis link to spot price and begin to raise output

34. Opec output reaches 18 million b/d

35. Wide use of netback pricing

36. Wide use of fixed prices

37. Wide use of formula pricing

38. Opec/ non-Opec meeting failure

39. Opec production accord; production outages in the North Sea

40. Exxon's Valdez tanker spills 11 million gallons of crude oil

41. Opec raises production ceiling to 19.5 million b/d

42. Iraq invades Kuwait

43. Operation Desert Storm begins

44. Gulf War ends

45. Dissolution of Soviet Union; last Kuwaiti oil fire is extinguished

46. UN sanctions threatened against Libya

47. Saudi Arabia agrees to support Opec price increase

48. Opec production reaches 25.3 million b/d, the highest in more than a decade

49. Kuwait boosts production by 560,000 b/d

50. Nigerian oil workers' strike

51. Cold snap in the US and Europe

52. US launches cruise missile attacks on Iraq following an invasion of Kurdish safe haven areas in the north

53. Iraq begins exporting oil under UN Security Council Resolution 986

54. Iraq refuses to allow UN weapons inspectors into sensitive sites

55. Opec raises its production ceiling to 27.5 million b/d, its first increase in four years

56. World oil supply increases by 2.25 million b/d in 1997, the largest annual increase since 1988

57. Increased production from Iraq; Asian oil demand slackens; inventories continue to build after two warm winters

58. Opec pledges additional production cuts

59. World oil demand grows as Opec cutbacks take hold

60. President Clinton authorises release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

61. Economic recession in the US coincides with Opec over-production

62. 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks on the US; fears of economic slowdown

63. Opec oil production cuts, unrest in Venezuela and tension in the Middle East

64. A general strike in Venezuela and concern over a possibly military conflict in Iraq; a cold winter eats into US oil inventories

65. Continued unrest in Venezuela

66. Invasion of Iraq; Iraqi oil fields are not destroyed as had been feared

Source: EIA