After the second world war, cheap oil was a foundation of global economic stability. That changed dramatically in 1973
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Past/Present is a column which places current events in historical context
With the price of fuel still rising steeply and shortages appearing across the country, what can we learn from how Australia fared during previous fuel crises?
In the quarter century after the second world war, cheap oil was one of the foundations of global economic stability. This changed suddenly in October 1973 when the global price of oil rose dramatically. The 1970s oil shock had its origins in the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel and its Arab adversaries. When western countries supported Israel, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) reduced oil production and suspended deliveries to the US, the Netherlands and Portugal.