Are Oil Prices at Historic Highs? Yes and No. Here's Why.

Oil prices are up -- way up. They've shot above $100 a barrel in some markets. Some analysts are predicting they will eventually hit $150 a barrel. Iran has said it intends to initiate actions that will send the price to $200.

But what does that mean, exactly? Those prices are definitely higher than they were before the outbreak of the war in Iran, but do they represent "historic highs"? And what do they mean for U.S. oil producers like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX)?

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Prices, not price

"The price of oil" isn't actually just a single number. Oil prices (plural) are determined by several factors, including what kind of oil you're talking about, where it comes from, where it's going, and when it's getting there. For example, the cost of a barrel of light sweet crude oil from the U.S.'s Permian Basin that's being sold in Texas today is very different from the price of a barrel of heavy sour crude from Venezuela that'll head for China next week.

Generally speaking, the global benchmark oil price is Brent Crude, named for an international oil market based in the North Sea. The Brent Crude price is the per-barrel cost of the Intercontinental Exchange Brent Oil monthly futures contract for a blend of light sweet crude from the North Sea and Permian Basin, to be delivered in 1-2 months. That Brent Crude price governs about 80% of globally traded crude oil.

The other major crude oil benchmark is West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which isn't for oil from a specific region, but rather for light sweet oil traded and delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma. However, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of other crude oil designations used around the world, including Murban Crude, the benchmark grade from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Each of these has its own "spot price" (today's current trading price) and "futures price." Collectively, all of these are considered "oil prices."

So are they at record highs or not?

Image source: Getty Images.

What's hot and what's not

With tankers unable to move crude out of the oil-rich Persian Gulf due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, spot prices and futures for Persian Gulf oil have skyrocketed. But even the major crude benchmarks have seen price spikes from the impact the closure has had on global oil supplies.

For example, on Monday at about 6 p.m. ET, the benchmark futures contract for WTI Crude was trading at $94.20 per barrel. Brent Crude was more expensive at $100.21, and Murban Crude was even more expensive, at $106.72.

While these benchmark prices are up sharply from a month ago, none were even close to their all-time record. But a DME Oman futures contract -- a key benchmark for sour crude oil exports from the Middle East to Asia -- was trading at $145.24, a record high, reflecting the impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure on that specific trading route.

So while some oil prices -- specifically those directly affected by the Strait of Hormuz closure -- are at record highs, most are just "high." Either way, it's good news for oil companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron. ExxonMobil management has said that its breakeven price on WTI Crude is $35 to $40 a barrel. Chevron management says the company's breakeven price is $50 on Brent Crude. So, the higher oil prices go, the higher the profit margins go for these two oil giants (as well as most other oil companies). But it's bad news for just about everyone else.

John Bromels has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.