An Ounce Of Silver Is Now Worth More Than A Barrel Of Oil — First Time In 45 Years

Silver has finally crossed a threshold untouched since 1980. Today, the white metal trades above $60 per ounce, while oil sits below $60 per barrel.

In essence, that means one ounce of silver can now buy more than a single barrel of oil, a dynamic unseen since January 1980, if excluding the technical distortion during April 2020 when WTI futures briefly went negative.

The reversal is striking on its own, but it also signals a tectonic shift in the hierarchy of global commodity markets.

Year-to-date, silver – as tracked by the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) – has rallied 110%, while oil has tumbled 22%.

The silver-to-oil ratio has now hit fresh all-time highs.

Chart: Silver Completes 45-Year Revenge Against Oil

Why Silver Dethroned Oil

For much of the past four decades, oil was the commodity that defined economic growth.

If an economy was expanding, oil demand was rising. If oil was rising, it signaled momentum, industrial activity, and global acceleration.

That narrative is starting to fray.

Today, oil's role as the unquestioned growth barometer is losing relevance in a world shaped by efficiency gains, electrification, and a push towards clean energy.

Meanwhile, silver is quietly stepping into a far more complex, and arguably more powerful, role.

Silver now sits at the intersection of monetary insurance and industrial necessity.

On one side, it's behaving like a traditional precious metal. Silver has been tracking gold's breakout, responding to the same forces: dollar debasement concerns, ballooning U.S. fiscal deficits, and lower interest rates.

In periods where investors look for tangible stores of value, silver historically amplifies gold's move — and that pattern has re-emerged in 2025.

On the other side, silver's industrial relevance has never been higher.

The metal is a critical input in solar panels and photovoltaic cells, where its unmatched electrical conductivity makes it difficult to substitute without sacrificing efficiency.

As global investment pours into renewable infrastructure, silver demand becomes less cyclical and more structural. Every additional gigawatt of solar capacity quietly tightens the physical silver market.

Then there's the technology layer.

Silver plays a growing role in high-performance electronics, advanced semiconductors, data centers, and the hardware backbone of AI systems.

While silver may not be the headline material in artificial intelligence, it's embedded in the circuitry, connectors, and power management systems that allow AI infrastructure to scale.

This dual identity is what sets silver apart from oil today.

The Silver Shortage Intensifies

Economist David Jensen warned earlier this week that the move is being fueled by something far more structural than momentum trading: a growing global scramble for physical silver.

"Silver's run is just getting started," Jensen said, pointing to intensifying delivery stress across global markets.

One of the clearest signals is emerging from London. The London silver lease rate has climbed back to the 7.5%–8% range, a level that historically indicates tightening physical supply.

After four and a half decades, silver hasn't just caught up to oil.

It has flipped the hierarchy and according to analysts watching the physical market, the real move may only be getting started.

Read now:

• The Year Silver Went Parabolic: 5 Metal Miners To Add To Your Portfolio

Image: Shutterstock