The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, OAPEC, is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Kuwait. One of its goals is to coordinate energy policies between the other oil-producing Arab nations.

On this day, October 20th, in 1973, OAPEC’s oil crisis began. The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo as a response to the US decision to resupply the Israeli military during the Yom Kippur War. This embargo lasted from October till March. The US sensed this as a potential long term threat of high oil prices and a strong rift was created within NATO.

In an attempt to resolve these problems, Richard Nixon’s administration began making negotiations with the conflicting Arab oil producers. Independently, the OAPEC members agreed to take advantage of their leverage over the world price setting mechanism for oil and stabilize their own incomes by raising the world’s oil prices.