January 1 Ecuador rejoined OPEC after having left in 1992, and is given a production allocation of 520,000 barrels per day. Angola’s first production allocation of 1.9 million barrels per day becomes effective.

February 1 At the 147th OPEC meeting, held in Vienna, Austria, OPEC decided to leave its production allocations unchanged. (OPEC)

February 14 Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA cut off crude oil sales to ExxonMobil. The sales had been averaging about 50,000 barrels per day. ExxonMobil and Venezuela have been engaged in a legal dispute following Venezuela’s decision to nationalize oil projects in Venezuela by ExxonMobil and other companies.

February 19 The nominal WTI crude oil price passed the $100 mark on the NYMEX, settling at a record high of $100.01 per barrel, the first time the near-month contract ever settled above $100 per barrel.  Tight fundamentals evidenced by low levels of surplus capacity continue to put upward pressure on oil prices. 

March5 OPEC decided to keep output unchanged at their meeting in Vienna. (EIA, Reuters)

March 13 On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude oil settled up 41 cents to a record $110.33 a barrel, the first time the near-month contract settled above $110 per barrel. (EIA, Reuters)

March27 Saboteurs blew up one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines in southern Iraq, cutting about half a million barrels a day of oil exports, about a third of crude exports through Basra. Crude was trading up more than $1 at close to $107 a barrel after news of the attack. Iraq exported 1.54 million barrels per day from its main Basra oil terminal in February. (Reuters)

April 6 Iraq's southern oil export flow declined to around 1.3 million barrels per day today, down from around 1.66 million barrels per day on April 5, shipping agents said. Iraq ships about three quarters of its exports, or an average of around 1.5 million barrels per day, from Basra. The pumping rate at the port typically varies between 1.2 and 1.7 million barrels per day. A bomb attack on a pipeline branch from the Bazargan oilfield on March 27 forced Iraq to shut in around 100,000 bbl/d per day from each of three fields. Output from two of the three fields restarted on April 3. The attack was the first to disrupt southern exports since 2004, although Iraq has used oil in storage at both the fields and the terminal to minimize the impact on shipments. (Reuters)

April 25 TheNigerian labor union, PENGASSAN (the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria) announced that their workers at ExxonMobil were on strike. The walkout resulted in shut-in production at the Qua Iboe, Yoho and Ehra fields totaling approximately 780,000 barrels per day in shut-in production from April 25 to May 4, with production fully resumed by May 5. (Reuters)

April 27 Workers at Scotland’s Grangemouth refinery walked off in a dispute over pensions, leading to the closure of the North Forties Pipeline that shut-in about half the UK's North Sea oil production and a substantial amount of gas output. The strike ended on April 29. (Reuters).

May 1 About 1.36 million barrels per day of Nigerian production is shut-in due to militant attacks, sabotage and workers' strike. This represents more than 40 percent of the West African country's installed output capacity of around 3 million bpd. The stoppage halted virtually all Exxon's 800,000 barrels per day of production in Nigeria and forced the company on Monday to declare force majeure on its shipments, meaning it could not fulfill contractual obligations to clients. (Reuters)

May 6 The NYMEX near-month WTI contract rose to over $120 per barrel for the first time, settling at $121.84 per barrel. (Reuters)

May 7 Exxon Mobil has lifted a force majeure on its crude oil exports from Nigeria, traders said today. (Reuters)

May 19 President Bush signed into law a bill that temporarily halts adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the measure Congress passed in an effort to lower gasoline prices. The legislation forbids adding to the stockpile until crude prices drop below $75 a barrel. (Reuters)

May 21 The NYMEX near-month WTI contract rose to over $130 per barrel for the first time, settling at $133.17 per gallon. (Reuters)

May 23 Mexico's oil exports fell sharply in April and production also slipped, putting pressure on the government to overhaul energy laws as the country's biggest oil field declines. Oil output fell in April to 2.77 million barrels per day, remaining below the firm's 3.0 million bpd target for the seventh straight month. Mexico is the world's No. 6 producer of oil by volume and the No. 10 exporter, according to the EIA. (EIA, Reuters)

May 27 Senior officials from five Arctic countries, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States, met in Greenland to discuss sovereignty over the Arctic Ocean, which could hold up to one-quarter of the world's undiscovered oil reserves. (Reuters)

May 28 Indonesia quits the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries according to its Energy Minister. The country's crude oil output has fallen in recent years due to ageing wells, a lack of investment, and the absence of any major oil finds. Its status as a net importer means it would benefit from lower oil prices, putting it at odds with other OPEC members. (Reuters)

June 7 The U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline topped $4 a gallon for the first time. (EIA, Reuters)

June 15 Saudi Arabia said that it would boost output to 9.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in July. That would be a rise of 600,000 bbl/d since April, and would take Saudi crude output to its highest monthly rate since August 1981, according to EIA data. (EIA, Reuters)

June 19 China raised retail gasoline and diesel prices by up to 18 percent. The increase in regulated fuel prices was China's first hike in eight months and its sharpest ever one-off rise. (Reuters)

June 19 Shell announced it had shut-in production at its 225,000 bbl/d Bonga field in Nigeria as a result of attacks by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The field is located 75 miles offshore and force majeure on shipments was announced for June and July. (Bloomberg)

June 20 Chevron declared force majeure on Escravos exports from Nigeria after angry youths blew up a pipeline causing 120,000 bbl/d of the company’s production to be shut-in. (AP)

June 22 Major producers, consumers and top oil company executives gathered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to try to discuss high oil prices. The final communiqué emphasized the importance of greater transparency in oil markets and more investment in production. (Reuters)

June 27 The NYMEX near-month WTI contract rose to over $140 per barrel for the first time, settling at $140.21 per barrel. Oil prices have doubled from $70 a year ago. (Reuters)

July 18 Oil prices dropped by more than $18 in the past week to $128.88 per barrel from the all-time peak of $147.27 set on 7/11. The fall in price was triggered by a 3 million barrel increase in U.S. crude stocks and falling U.S. demand according to data from the EIA, and as a fresh diplomatic initiative from Washington diluted tension over Iran. (Reuters)

July 23 Hurricane Dolly, the first serious storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast this year, caused a precautionary shut in of about 5 percent of Gulf oil and natural gas output. Dolly came ashore near the Texas-Mexico border about midday today. Industry reports at least 62,000 barrels per day of offshore oil and natural gas liquids production shut and 250 million cubic feet per day of offshore natural gas shut. However, Gulf production was not actually affected as the hurricane passed by it. (Reuters)

July 28 The national average retail price of U.S. gasoline fell below $4 a gallon for the first time in eight weeks, dropping 10.9 cents over the last week to an average $3.96, as more of the recent decline in crude oil costs is passed on to consumers at the pump. The cost of regular, unleaded gasoline is still $1.08 a gallon higher than year-ago, according to the EIA. Falling gasoline demand is also helping to push fuel prices lower, as the number of U.S. highway miles traveled during the month of May fell by a record 3.7 percent. (Reuters)

A series of oil supply disruptions, as well as supply restorations and new production occurred in Nigeria. EIA estimates show that an average of 700,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil production was shut-in during July, up from about 685,000 bbl/d during the previous month.

August 4-7 The U.S. Minerals Management Service said that offshore oil and gas production was shut-in in the Gulf of Mexico due to tropical storm Edouard. At the peak on August 5, 78,000 bbl/d, or 6% of offshore crude oil production and 946 million cubic feet/day, or 12.3 percent of offshore natural gas output remained offline. The storm also forced shut Marathon's Texas City, Texas, refinery and the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port and partially closed the Houston Ship Channel. (Minerals Management Service, Reuters)

August 7 An explosion on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline on August 5 in eastern Turkey has halted the 850,000 bbl/day of oil flow along the pipeline, according to a senior Turkish Energy Ministry official. Opened in 2006, the pipeline is the first to carry large volumes of Caspian crude without going through Russia. Although Turkish officials point to a technical flaw in the line as the cause of the explosion, responsibility for the blast has also been claimed by Kurdish separatists. (EIA, Reuters)

Aug 14 BP Plc, the operator of the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, has declared force majeure on exports through the pipeline and closed it for security concerns following a military conflict between Russia and Georgia,. The line had been taking between 45,000 barrels per day and 90,000 barrels per day of Azeri crude prior to the shutdown. BP has resumed gas exports on the South Caucasus pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia after halting flows two days ago due to the conflict, however, oil deliveries via the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline toward the Georgian Black Sea coast remained suspended. With little to no rail shipments able to reach the Black Sea ports of Poti, Kulevi, and Batumi, the only viable export option for Azeri crude is the roughly 80,000 bbl/day that is transported along the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline (EIA, Reuters)

Aug 20 China's top two state oil companies will halt diesel imports in September after building up stockpiles for the Olympics. PetroChina, which imports more refined fuel than Sinopec as its refining system is smaller, is not buying any cargos for September delivery after purchasing 103,000 bbl/d in August, and larger rival Sinopec Corp will skip diesel imports next month after buying 24,000 bbl/d in August, according to traders. (Reuters)

Aug 25 The BTC pipeline resumed normal operations yesterday, reaching normal throughput levels today, according to the Turkish pipeline consortium and the Turkish energy ministry. Tankers have also been reported to be on a normal loading schedule at the Ceyhan port starting today. The Baku-Supsa pipeline remains closed due to security concerns. (Reuters)

Aug 29-Sept 7 Oil and natural gas companies shut production across the Gulf of Mexico as they moved workers out of the path of Tropical Storm Gustav. By September 1, 1.3 million bbl/d , or 100%, of offshore Gulf oil production and 7.1 billion cubic feet per day, or 95%, of offshore of natural gas production were shut in due to Gustav. Most of the offshore production had not been restored by September 7 when operators began taking preparations for Hurricane Ike. (Minerals Management Service, Reuters)

September 8 Before oil and gas output shut-down by Hurricane Gustav last month could be restored, energy companies began shutting production in the Gulf of Mexico in preparation for Hurricane Ike. Prior to the arrival of Hurricane Ike, 1.04 million barrels per day (bbl/d), (80%) of the 1.3 million bbl/d oil production in the Gulf, and 5.18 billion cubic feet (bcf) (70% ) of the 7.4 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day of gas production in the Gulf was still shut-in. After the arrival of Hurricane Ike on September 14, approximately 1.3 million bbl/d (99.9%) of the oil production and 6.94 bcf/day (94%) of the natural gas production in the Gulf was shut-in. At month’s-end, approximately 0.74 million bbl/d (57%) of the oil production in the Gulf and 2.28 bcf/day (46%) of the natural gas production in the Gulf still had not been restored. (Minerals Management Service, Reuters)

September 10 OPEC decided to abide by September 2007 production allocations (adjusted to include new members Angola and Ecuador and excluding Indonesia and Iraq), totaling 28.8 million barrels per day (bbl/d.) According to the calculations of OPEC President Khelil, the decision would result in a cut of 520,000 bbl/d. (Reuters)

September 10-15 Iraqi oil production was curtailed following export problems in both the north and south. Exports of 450,000 bbl/d on its northern oil pipeline to Ceyhan in Turkey were halted for 5 days following an explosion on September 10. Southern exports from Basra were also cut in half from September 14-15 due to a storm. Together, the export problems curtailed Iraqi production in September by an estimated 100,000 bbl/d. (EIA, Reuters)

September 15 U.S. crude oil futures settled below the $100 a barrel level for the first time since March 4, 2008, after the damage wrought by Hurricane Ike was less than feared. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's bankruptcy filing and fears about other financial institutions also weighed on oil futures. (Reuters)

September 22 Oil prices soared more than 15 percent on Monday, the biggest one-day gain on record, continuing a rally sparked by the expiry of the front-month futures contract and the U.S. rescue plan for its financial sector. WTI for October delivery settled up $16.37 at $120.92 per barrel. The contract for delivery in November, which was much more actively traded, was up only $6.62 at $109.37. (Reuters)

September 24 U.S. gasoline inventories have dropped to their lowest level since 1967 after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike shut Gulf Coast oil refineries and disrupted motor fuel production, causing some supply shortages at service stations, the EIA said. (Reuters)