Oil and energy price volatility

Abstract

It is commonly believed that since the 1973 oil crisis, oil and energy prices have been more volatile than other commodity prices. This study examines monthly producer prices for thousands of products over the period January 1945 through August 2005. The results show that crude oil, refined petroleum, and natural gas prices are more volatile than prices for about 95% of products sold by domestic producers. Relative to crude commodities, however, crude oil prices are currently more volatile than about 65% of other products, and oil price volatility first exceeded the median for crude commodities following the 1986 drop in oil prices.