The Arab oil embargo was the first oil crisis, an oil-supply disruption leading to major price increases and a worldwide energy crisis. The Middle Eastern countries had been seen up until 1973 as reliable friends, but the UK and others in the west gave the region far more attention after the embargo, even though it remained in place for a relatively small amount of time. Features 1970s Vintage Photos The world needs so much oil every day to run, and will literally need to pay whatever it costs, or it will cease to run. In October of 1973 Egypt and Syria (supported by a number of Arab nations) launched an attack against Israel which came to be known as the Yom-Kippur War. 1973: Yom Kippur War. There were a series of energy crises between 1967 and 1979 caused by problems in the Middle East but the most significant started in 1973 when Arab oil producers imposed an embargo. Within an hour, hundreds of rigs came to a halt on I-80. What are his proposed solutions? DEJA VU: Scary Pictures Of The 1970s Oil Crisis. As mentioned above, 1970 represented the peak of oil production in the United States. Britain's interest in alternative energy has been revived due to climate change and the need for a low-carbon economy. The price of oil quadrupled by 1974 from US$3 to nearly US$12 per barrel ($75 per cubic meter), equivalent in 2018 dollars to a price rise from $17 to $61 per barrel. Today, the United States has national mileage standards, the Department of Energy, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in large part because of this crisis. 5  U.S. government policies helped cause the recession and the stagflation that accompanied it. Ironically, even today we're still underestimating the effects. Also, the effects of global warming started during the mid-'1970s due to increased use of oil, leading to problems being encountered today, including droughts, droughts, melting sea ice, etc. It took countries with much smaller indigenous oil supplies to take radical new steps. Instantly, he found sympathy. The oil embargo had a lasting effect on energy prices. They included Nixon's wage-price controls and the Federal Reserve's stop-go monetary policy. The real price of petroleum was stable in the 1970 timeframe, but there had been a sharp increase in American imports, putting a strain on American balance of trade, alongside other developed nations. During the 1960s, petroleum production in some of the world's top producers began to peak. All rights reserved. Describes Glenn's work on different energy sources in the 1970s Back in the 1970s, U.S. drivers faced two separate oil crises that led to long lines at gas stations. This period of high energy prices was not good for the country's already shaky manufacturing base. . There were two major oil price shocks in the 1970s, which produced dramatic shifts in economic environment that the government around the world had to manage. The effects of the embargo were immediate. A phrase in the original said that the price pressures confronting the Heath government "fed into an inflation rate that hit more than 25%". What role did Nixon see for coal and nuclear power in providing new sources of energy? Press coverage of OPEC’s actions and of dwindling U.S. oil reserves prompted widespread political concern about U.S. reliance on imported oil. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013. . With the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, oil prices jumped 350%, and the higher costs rippled through the economy. From then onwards – particularly after the 1979 oil shock caused by the fall of the Shah in Iran – Britain paid much more attention to those areas of the world that could provide stable and alternative oil and gas supplies such as Nigeria and Indonesia. 1973-74 Oil Crisis. The Conservative government, led by Ted Heath, was already struggling to cope with high food prices caused by global shortages. Research into renewables also stepped up. The first occurred in October 1973 as noted yesterday and the second came in August 1990. Faced with a sudden lack of oil, energy conservation and efficiency became a top priority. The action paraly… Facing gas shortages, high fuel prices, and emissions regulations, many consumers opted for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.