Oil prices have surged by around $100 per barrel one week after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, threatening production and shipping across the Middle East. The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed historical spot prices of West Texas Intermediate crude oil tracked by the U.,S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Four of these surges were driven by global conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War, and escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear program. Another price surge was driven by the growing demand for oil from newly industrialized countries like China in 2008. Oil price shocks can last anywhere from two to three months to a year, according to various expert analyses and annual EIA reports. In 2011, crude oil markets sustained high price levels due to pro-democracy protests and Libya's civil war. In 2012, US and European sanctions on imports of Iranian oil disrupted oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical sea lane connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. In 2013, oil prices reached their highest level in 18 months in August 2013 as threats of US. strikes in Syria drove up oil prices. In 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked a global energy crisis.