The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

by Daniel Yergin

The 1970s also saw a dramatic shift in world oil. Demand was catching up with available supply, and the twenty-year surplus was over. As a result, the world was rapidly becoming more dependent on the Middle East and North Africa for its petroleum. The late 1960s and early 1970s were, for the most part, years of high economic growth for the industrial world and, in some years, outright boom. This growth was fueled by oil. Free world petroleum demand rose from almost 19 million barrels per day in 1960 to more than 44 million barrels per day in 1972. Oil consumption surged beyond expectation around the world, as ever-greater amounts of petroleum products were burned in factories, power plants, homes, and cars. In America, gasoline use increased not only because people were driving more miles but also because cars were getting heavier and were carrying more “extras,” such as air-conditioning. The cheap price of oil in the 1960s and early 1970s meant that there was no incentive for fuel-efficient automobiles.