1979 Oil Crisis
1979 Oil Crisis was the second oil shock of the 1970s, set off when the Iranian Revolution cut Iran's oil output, after which crude oil prices more than doubled between April 1979 and April 1980.
What happened and why it matters
The second oil shock made high fuel prices a recurring business risk and confirmed fuel as one of the most volatile costs in freight. Iranian production fell sharply in late 1978 and early 1979, and fear of further disruption led to hoarding and panic buying even though other producers made up much of the lost supply. In the United States, gas lines returned and several states used odd-even rationing based on license plate numbers. Fuel has remained a major swing factor in freight rates ever since, which shippers see today in carrier fuel surcharge tables that move weekly with diesel and jet fuel prices, separate from base rates.
Related events
Sources
- Oil Shock of 1978-79 (Federal Reserve History) federalreservehistory.org
- 1979 oil crisis (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org