| | Date | Category | Event |
| A | 1857 | Production | First oil wells dug in Germany. |
| B | 1859 | Production | Edwin Drake digs first American oil well near Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. Beginning of oil age. |
| C | 1908 | Economy | Model T Ford introduced. |
| D | 1913 | Economy | Assembly line introduced by Henry Ford. |
| E | 1930 | Production | USA reaches its discovery peak. |
| F | 1948 | Production | Saudi Arabia reaches its discovery peak. |
| G | 1956 | Media | Publication of "Nuclear Energy and the Fossil Fuels" in which M King Hubbert predicts the production peak of the USA. |
| H | 1964 | Production | World reaches its discovery peak. |
| I | 1970 | Costs | Oil reaches its lowest price in recent years at $8 (BP Stats - 2004 prices). |
| J | 1971 | Production | USA reaches its production peak. |
| K | 1973 | Politics | OPEC oil embargo of the West. |
| L | 1980 | Costs | Oil reaches its previous highest price of $82 (BP Stats - 2004 prices). |
| M | 1998 | Costs | Oil reaches its lowest price of $15 before the present high prices (BP Stats - 2004 prices). |
| N | March 1998 | Media | Publication in the Scientific American of "The End of Cheap Oil". |
| O | 2000 | Production | Kazakhstan becomes the last major country to reach its discovery peak. |
| P | 8 Nov 2000 | Media | The BBC Money Programme "The Last Oil Shock" is aired. First introduction to peak oil for many people (myself included). |
| Q | 2003 | Costs | Oil prices begin to soar. |
| R | 20 Mar 2003 | Politics | Invasion of Iraq by USA and UK. |
| S | 26 May 2003 | Media | The BBC Money Programme "Iraq for Oil" is aired. |
| T | Sep 2003 | Media | The "Wolf at the Door" website is born. |
| U | 2004/5? | Production | World reaches its production peak? |