This paper employs the linear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, the asymmetric nonlinear ARDL model, and the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) method to examine the symmetric and asymmetric effects of oil price changes on inflation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Short-run and long-run asymmetries are introduced via positive and negative partial sum decompositions of oil price. The results suggest that the variables are cointegrated and that there is significant evidence of long-run asymmetry. This implies that rising and falling oil prices have different effects on inflation. In particular, while rising oil price has a significant positive effect on inflation in all the cases, falling oil price is either insignificant or has a negative effect on inflation. The PMG model indicates that only rising oil price has a positive significant effect on inflation. Moreover, the results suggest that positive oil price changes have a larger impact than the negative ones, that the effect of an oil price shock is larger in the long-run than in the short-run, and that there is incomplete pass-through effect of oil price on domestic inflation. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.