1970s energy crises

Background
Oil production had peaked in the USA and West Germany leaving them prone to an oil embargo. The embargo was a response to American involvement in the 1973 Yom Kippur War 6 days after Egypt and Syria launched a surprise military campaign against Israel to regain territories lost in the anti-Semitic June 1967 Six-Day War, the US supplied Israel with arms. In response to this, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), consisting of the  Arab  members of the OPEC plus Egypt, Syria and Tunisia) announced an oil embargo against Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA.

The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) is and generally was a multi-governmental organization headquartered in Kuwait which coordinates energy policies between oil-producing Arab nations, and whose main purpose is developmental, but was also a club for Arabs to co-ordinate how to screw oil money out of the West and plot against Israel.

The crisis had a major impact on international relations and created a rift within NATO. Some European nations and Japan sought to disassociate themselves from United States foreign policy in the Middle East. Whilst Japan was running scared of an oil embargo and did not relay have much to do with the Middle East, several European nations agreed with the Arabs and/or were anti-Semitic in nature. It was also, and still is, a uniquely European trait to adore and fawn up to bullies (Adolf Hitler, OAPEC, Saddam Hussein, Mao Te Sung, Vladimir Putin...).

The crisis
The 1970s energy crisis was a period in which the economies of the major industrial countries of the world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand were heavily affected, along with some lesser nation like Poland and Brazil, who faced substantial petroleum shortages, real and perceived, as well as elevated prices. Increased demand had coincided with political trouble in the Middle East which reduced supplies from that region.

The 2 worst crises of this period were the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis, caused by interruptions in exports from the Middle East, for example in 1979 due to the Iranian Revolution.

In the West



 * Japan- Nuclear power en mass.
 * France- Nuclear power en mass.
 * UK- More nuclear power and North Sea oil use.
 * Netherlands- More North Sea gas use.
 * W. Germany- More nuclear power and North Sea oil use.
 * USA- Soured more oil from South America and Mexico. More nuclear power. Three Mile Island Power Plant is expanded. Solar, wind, tidal and geothermal power tested out.
 * Brazil- Alcohol fueled cars are tried out in places.
 * Switzerland- More hydro-power plants and more nuclear power.
 * Canada- More use of oil shales.

In the East
The USSR made a lot of money selling oil and Poland nearly went bankrupt and reverted back to using Soviet oil.

In the Arab World and the Middle East
It helped tilt Arab opinion and international interest away from the progressive Arab nationalists and Baathist's and in favor of the brutal, fundamentalist regimes in Saudi Arabia and Iran. Many Arab states obviously lost lots of money due to reduced oil exports.

In non-Arab OPEC members like Mexico and Venezuela
More drilling contacts, rising consumption in industrialised nations and high prices meant loads of petro-dollars! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Technical note
Nuclear powered ships like the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) (which had 8 × Westinghouse A2W nuclear reactors) and the Ice Breaker Lenin, as well as nuclear subs like the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) were able to use atomic power for up to a year between reactor re-fuelings. So in this case an oil embargo was irrelevant to them and their kindred vessels.

Also see

 * 1) Yom Kippur War
 * 2) Six-Day War
 * 3) Nickel
 * 4) Minerals and fuel in central Africa

Links

 * 1) http://cr.middlebury.edu/es/altenergylife/70%27s.htm
 * 2) http://www.history.com/topics/energy-crisis
 * 3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_energy_crisis
 * 4) http://www.wisegeek.org/how-did-the-70s-energy-crisis-affect-the-united-states.htm
 * 5) http://americanhistory.si.edu/powering/past/history3.htm
 * 6) http://cr.middlebury.edu/es/altenergylife/70%27s.htm
 * 7) http://www.history.com/topics/energy-crisis
 * 8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_energy_crisis
 * 9) http://www.wisegeek.org/how-did-the-70s-energy-crisis-affect-the-united-states.htm
 * 10) http://americanhistory.si.edu/powering/past/history3.htm
 * 11) http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Organization_of_Arab_Petroleum_Exporting_Countries