$147 in July 2008 had the purchasing power of ~$218 today [1].

[1] https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

selectodude 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Goldman Sachs has been sandbagging their crude forecasts so hilariously that I'm convinced they're frontrunning their customers.

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JumpCrisscross 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Do they meaningfully deviate from their peers?

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selectodude 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Not really. It's just that the divergence in price analysis coming out of banks vs the what people in the oil industry are saying is just so ridiculous that I refuse to believe that the hotshot analysts at GS/JPM are that ignorant.

	▲	JumpCrisscross 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> divergence in price analysis coming out of banks vs the what people in the oil industry are saying Source for a consensus from oil? The crack spread shows refiners pricing in higher prices [1]. If the domestic refiners and producers can’t agree, why is the homogenous opinion of the banks a conspiracy? [1] https://rbnenergy.com/market-data/3-2-1-crack-spread

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jltsiren 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

$147 was ~€95 in July 2008, which corresponds to ~€140 today. Which would be ~$160. And if you choose a third currency, you will get a third price.

Long-term measurements of value are kind of weird, as your unit of measurement can gain and lose value relative to the units other people are using.

	▲	JumpCrisscross 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The currency is less fundamentally meaningful than the group of purchasers buying their basket of goods. > Long-term measurements of value are kind of weird They are worthless. Best case, you’re asking a traveler problem. Does an American tourist rejecting a local Thai delicacy render it worthless? Of course not. They’re different purchasers. Similarly, trying to compare pricing preferences across centuries is borderline voodoo—you’re doing spherical-cow math.

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master_crab 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Also adding: the spike in 2008 was transient and partially juiced by a weak dollar. Unfortunately, we will probably get no respite this time around.

At the current geopolitical trajectory, I also doubt $147 is anywhere near the limit of where oil is going.

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missedthecue 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

in retrospect, the american obsession and mental sensitivity to gas prices is very curious. The average national gas price in 2008 was about $3.50 which is almost what it is now in 2026. And being a commodity product sold per gallon, there's obviously no shrinkflation or enshittification going on. It's actually remarkably stable in the face of almost 20 years of steady broader inflation.

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JumpCrisscross 12 hours ago | parent [-]

> the american obsession and mental sensitivity to gas prices is very curious

It strikes me as sensible. DRAM being cheaper over decades doesn’t negate the impact of recent price hikes.

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missedthecue 12 hours ago | parent [-]

Well it's not just recent price increases. Any time gasoline goes above $4, congress is at risk of being flipped (completely independent of the current party in control).

	▲	JumpCrisscross 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> Any time gasoline goes above $4, congress is at risk of being flipped Inflation is a bitch. It’s also been the ruin of republics since at least the Romans, possibly sooner.