Go back 8 years, 10 years, 20 years. I used 1969 because that was BEFORE the big "oil inflation" supposedly hit. Oil's cheaper today than it was in 1969 in real dollars.
As an experiment I suggest visiting any store in Pennsylvania in a town that borders Delaware. In Delaware there is no sales tax, in Pennsylvania it is 6%. Compare the prices of taxed items. Taxes effect prices.
And with FUEL -- even an end-user sales tax acts to a great degree like a value-added tax driving up the prices of everything that takes fuel to make or deliver. That is, everything.
And a barrel of sweet crude in the 60's was what -- 10-13 dollars, I'm guessing, might be high. Today? A barrel of sweet runs 25-30. And what the heck is a 1969 dollar? My *estimate* of rates of inflation to adjust historic dollars with is just that -- MY ESTIMATE. There are only subjective estimates.
Charts in actual dollars are more honest. And if you like fanciness, ratios of one commodity to another -- say gold/oil, or copper/oil, or eggs/oil are more honest. *Adjusted* dollars are ALWAYS more political than honest.