Oil prices — and what they mean for your wallet
Oil is the world's most important input cost: it moves petrol, diesel, shipping, plastics, and food prices. This page shows the price itself, then how a price shock usually travels into everyday life.
The monthly-average Brent oil price is 9% above its 5-year average.
How an oil shock reaches your wallet
Typical pass-through chain with typical delays. These are historical patterns, not promises — every shock plays out a bit differently, and other forces (taxes, exchange rates, competition) push prices too.
- 1
Crude oil day 0
The raw material price moves first — it's traded worldwide every minute.
- 2
Fuel at the pump & diesel typically ~2–6 weeks later
Refineries and petrol stations pass higher crude costs to drivers. Diesel matters double: almost everything you buy travels on a diesel truck or ship.
- 3
Freight & shipping typically ~1–3 months later
Shipping lines and truckers add fuel surcharges. Moving goods gets more expensive across the board.
- 4
Asia's factory gates typically ~2–6 months later
Factories in China and across Asia pay more for energy, plastics, chemicals, and freight — and start charging more for the goods leaving the factory. In the last big shock, China's factory-gate prices peaked in late 2021, months before goods inflation peaked in Western shops in 2022.
- 5
Food, electronics & everyday goods typically ~3–12 months later
Farming (fertiliser, tractors, transport) and manufacturing (plastics, chemicals, freight) slowly bake the higher costs into shop prices.
Asia's factory gates — the link measured directly
China's producer price index (PPI) tracks what factories charge for goods as they leave the factory gate — step 4 of the chain above, measured every month by China's statistics bureau.
China factory-gate prices — change vs a year earlier
What Chinese factories charge at the gate, compared with the same month a year earlier — above zero, factory prices are rising; below zero, they're falling. Because so many of the world's goods start in Chinese factories, this number has historically moved months before goods prices in Western shops.
Via the DBnomics mirror of official NBS releases — the mirror holds only about the last year of monthly values and lags a few months, so this chart is short and not fully current. For scale: China's factory-gate inflation peaked in late 2021, months before Western goods inflation peaked in 2022.
- Newest data point:
- February 2026
- Last checked:
- 6 September 2026
- Updates:
- monthly
- Confidence:
- medium
Daily oil prices — since January 2025
The day-by-day price of the two most-watched barrels of oil: Brent (the world benchmark) and WTI (the US benchmark).
Official EIA spot prices, published with a lag of a few business days. Weekend gaps are real, not missing data.
- Newest data point:
- 1 September 2026
- Last checked:
- 8 September 2026
- Updates:
- daily
- Confidence:
- high
The long view — monthly averages since 2015
Monthly average oil prices back to 2015, so today can be compared with the 2020 COVID crash and the 2022 energy crisis.
World Bank Pink Sheet monthly averages; Dubai crude is the benchmark for oil sold to Asia.
- Newest data point:
- August 2026
- Last checked:
- 6 September 2026
- Updates:
- monthly
- Confidence:
- high
Natural gas — Asia LNG and US prices
What Japan pays to import liquefied natural gas (monthly), alongside the US benchmark gas price — gas prices drive electricity and heating costs, especially in Asia and Europe.
LNG Japan: World Bank monthly averages. US Henry Hub: EIA daily (appears once the EIA feed is active).
- Newest data point:
- August 2026
- Last checked:
- 6 September 2026
- Updates:
- monthly
- Confidence:
- high
Common questions
How does an oil price shock reach consumer prices?
A rise in crude oil prices typically passes through a chain: first to fuel and diesel prices (about 2–6 weeks), then to freight and shipping costs (1–3 months), then to Asian factory-gate prices (2–6 months), and finally to food, electronics, and everyday goods (3–12 months). These are typical historical lag ranges, not guarantees.
Why does diesel matter more than other fuel prices?
Diesel powers most of the trucks and ships that move goods worldwide, so a rise in diesel prices raises the cost of transporting almost everything — not just what drivers pay at the pump. That's why the pass-through chain treats diesel as a distinct, earlier link than general fuel prices.
What is Brent crude, and why is it the benchmark oil price?
Brent crude is the world's most widely referenced oil-price benchmark, based on oil produced in the North Sea. According to ICE, the exchange that operates the benchmark, it is used to price around two-thirds of the world's internationally traded crude oil supplies — which is why this site, and most financial media, track it as the headline oil number.
Why does China's factory-gate price index matter for global inflation?
China's producer price index measures what factories charge as goods leave the factory gate. Because so much of the world's manufactured goods start in Chinese factories, this number has historically moved months before goods inflation shows up in Western stores — in the last cycle, China's factory-gate prices peaked in late 2021, months before Western goods inflation peaked in 2022.