On This Day…..

Arab Oil Embargo……

November 25, 1973……

U.S. President Richard Nixon calls for a ban on the sale of gasoline on Sundays in response to the Arab Oil Embargo. The crisis began the previous month when OAPEC (Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) declared an oil embargo on the U.S., Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the U.K. for supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo targeted the U.S. for resupplying the Israeli military during the war. By the time the embargo was lifted in March, the price of oil had risen nearly 400%, from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12. U.S. President Richard Nixon declared a national energy crisis following the embargo.