What was the 1970s oil crisis?
On October 5, 1973, the Yom Kippur War began following an attack by Syria and Egypt on Israel. When western countries like the United States showed support for Israel, Arab oil exporting nations placed embargos on these nations. The Arab nations cut production by 5 million barrels a day and despite other nations increasing their production, a net loss of 4 million barrels a day occurred throughout March of 1974. In response to this decreased supply, OPEC raised crude oil prices from their 1972 level of $3 a barrel to $12 a barrel in 1974. Oil prices remained at the $12-13 level until the Iranian revolution between November 1978 and June 1979, which resulted in the loss of 2-2.5 million barrels of oil a day. When Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980, both countries had a combined output of 1 million barrels a day and these huge production losses doubled oil prices from $14 in 1978 to $35 a barrel in 1981. The reason for these huge price increases was due not only to reduced supply, but t
