The 1973 Arab oil embargo caused a near 300% rise in global oil prices, triggering the first major oil shock and reshaping energy policy worldwide.
Key Facts
- Embargo start
- October 1973
- Embargo lifted
- March 1974
- Price before embargo
- 3 USD per barrel
- Price after embargo
- ~12 USD per barrel
- Price increase
- ~300%
- Primary targets
- Canada, Japan, Netherlands, UK, USA
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
Egypt and Syria launched a surprise military attack on Israel in October 1973, beginning the Yom Kippur War, in an attempt to reclaim territories lost in the 1967 Six-Day War. OAPEC, led by Saudi Arabia's King Faisal, responded by targeting nations that had supported Israel during the conflict.
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed a total oil embargo beginning in October 1973 against the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, later extending it to Portugal, Rhodesia, and South Africa. The embargo halted oil supplies from Arab producers to these nations for approximately five months.
When the embargo was lifted in March 1974, the global price of oil had risen from roughly $3 to $12 per barrel. The resulting energy crisis produced widespread fuel shortages, economic recession, and inflation across Western economies, and spurred long-term policy shifts toward energy conservation and diversification. A second oil shock followed the Iranian Revolution in 1979.