The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo
Raktizer Omheit
The Arab members of the OPEC group retaliated against the military and
economic aid which the U.S.A. and Western Europe provided to Israel before
and during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 by placing an oil embargo against the
U.S.A., which was lifted in March 1974, and by reducing oil supplies and
placing a sharp price hike on those reduced supplies to various Western
European nations. In 1973, the U.S.A. imported 12% of its petroleum imports
from the Middle East, whereas the figure for Europe was 80%, and for Japan
over 90%. The British, French, and Japanese reversed their previously
pro-Israeli policies as a ressult of the Arab oil embargo, and became more
pro-Arab in the following years. See "1973 oil crisis," in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis . Only in 1975 did the United
Kingdom begin to receive petroleum supplies from the North Sea with the
completion of a pipeline linking the off-shore oil wells to the British
coastline. The U.S.A., in the aftermath of the stunning Israeli victory over
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the Six Day War of 1967, became closely allied
towards Israel, because by 1967 Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and southern Yemen or
Yemen Aden had moved into the Soviet camp in the Cold War, followed by Libya
by 1973. Today, the greatest enemies in the Middle East for the Americans
are the Shiite Iranians, the Syrian Alawites and Syrian Druze, the Lebanese
Hezbollah Shiite political party, a certain percentage of the Lebanese
Druze, the majority of the Druze of the Golan Heights who are pro-Syrian
rather than pro-Israeli, the Sunni Arab Iraqis, and the Sunni Palestinians.
After the 1967 Six Day War, Israel's defendable frontiers greatly improved
with its capture of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the
West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
The Suez Canal, as a result of the 1967 Six Day War, was closed until 1975,
when the Israelis began a phased withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula,
followed by a further stage in 1979, and completed in a final stage in
1982. As part of the 1979 Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel, the
Egyptians agreed to provide sales of petroleum and natural gas supplies from
Egypt to Israel, some of it from the Gulf of Suez and the Sinai Peninsula.
During the
years when the Suez Canal was closed from 1967 to 1975, work began on the
construction of the Suez to Mediterranean or Sumed pipeline in order to
transport petroleum from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Work began on
this pipeline in 1967, and was completed, after many delays, in 1977. See
"Making a Short Story Long: The Construction of the Suez-Mediterranean Oil
Pipeline in Egypt, 1967-1977," by Elie Podeh, June 30, 2004, in the Business
History Review, Harvard Business School, Vol 78, Issue 1, pp. 61-88, in
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000BG5FJE/104-2685736-3371110
. The Sumed pipeline has the advantage of being able to ship petroleum
imports from the Persian Gulf transported in supertankers via the Red Sea to
Egyptian port of Ain Sukhna on the Gulf of Suez to the port of Sidi Kerir on
the Egyptian Mediterranean coastline. The Suez Canal is not wide enough and
not deep enough to handle supertankers. The Sumed pipeline is owned by the
Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company ( APP ), which is a joint venture between
Egypt ( 50% ), Saudi Arabia ( 15% ), Kuwait ( 15% ), the United Arab
Emirates ( 15% ), and Qatar ( 5% ). See "Egypt-Oil and Gas Industry:
Exploration & Production," by the African Refiners Association, in the
MBendi
website, 26 May, 2005,
http://www.mbendi.co.za/indy/oilg/ogus/af/eg/p0005.htm . Since 1975, an oil
pipeline has transported petroleum from the oil fields of Saudi Arabia's
Persian Gulf coastlands and offshore oil wells to the Saudi Arabian Red Sea
port of Yanbu' al Bahr, which is also the site of an important Saudi naval
base. See "Yanbu' al Bahr" in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanbu'_al_Bahr .
The Israeli port of Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea is used as a frequent
port-of-call by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps travelling from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf via the Suez Canal. Of all the nations
in the Middle East, Israel is the one most trusted by the U.S.A. as an ally,
even with the possession of nuclear weapons, unlike the case with the
Iranian Shiite Muslim theocracy, which in the Cold War years between 1979 to
1991 was both ideologically anti-American and anti-Communist at the same
time. See "The Evolution of Strategic Cooperation," by Mitchell G. Bard, in
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/evolution_of_strategic_coop.html .
Haifa is connected to the Israeli Mediterranean ports of Ashdod and
Ashkelon, and the Israeli port of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba, an inlet of
the Red Sea, by the Trans-Israel oil pipeline. From 1968-1979, Europe
obtained a large part of its petroleum supply from the Shah's Iran, which
was transported via supertankers through the Trans-Israel pipeline. In 2003,
the Russians reached a deal with the Israelis whereby they would supply East
Asia with Russian petroleum transported from the Black Sea port of
Novorossiysk through the Trans-Israel pipeline. See "Trans-Israel pipeline,"
in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Israel_pipeline , and "EAPC-Eilat
Ashkelon Pipeline Company," in http://www.eapc.co.il .
In 1973, the year when the Yom Kippur War broke out between Israel and the
Egyptian-Syrian military alliance, 35% of the total U.S. oil supply was
provided from foreign oil imports, and 12% of U.S. oil imports in 1973 came
from the Middle East. By 2005, 57% of the total U.S. oil supply came from
foreign oil imports. The Arab OPEC countries supplied the U.S.A. with 26% of
its oil imports in 2004, and in 2004 24% of U.S. oil imports came from the
Persian Gulf states. See "U.S. Middle East Policy and Oil," in
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/usoil.html .
Although I personally believe that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should
form an independent Palestinian state, I believe that Israel should
permanently incorporate the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem into the state
of Israel. The Golan Heights is an important source of fresh water for
Israel, because its tributaries flow into the freshwater lake known as the
Sea of Galilee, and that lake is used to provide irrigation for the Negev
Desert by means of the water pipeline known as the National Water Carrier.
East Jerusalem is where the ancient walled city of Jerusalem is located,
which once formed the capital of King David's and King Solomon's Israel.
Scotius
<ceq...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
>
>
>The Arab members of the OPEC group retaliated against the military and
>
>economic aid which the U.S.A. and Western Europe provided to Israel before
>
>and during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 by placing an oil embargo against the
>
>U.S.A., which was lifted in March 1974, and by reducing oil supplies and
>
>placing a sharp price hike on those reduced supplies to various Western
>
>European nations.
And it was a boon to US oil companies, the value of whose
existing reserves rose by approximately 400%. The US oil giants were
laughing up their sleeves about the oil embargo, and the OPEC attempt
to "punish" the US for it's support of Israel.
>In 1973, the U.S.A. imported 12% of its petroleum imports
>
>from the Middle East, whereas the figure for Europe was 80%, and for Japan
>
>over 90%. The British, French, and Japanese reversed their previously
>
>pro-Israeli policies as a ressult of the Arab oil embargo, and became more
>
>pro-Arab in the following years. See "1973 oil crisis," in
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis . Only in 1975 did the United
>
>Kingdom begin to receive petroleum supplies from the North Sea with the
>
>completion of a pipeline linking the off-shore oil wells to the British
>
>coastline. The U.S.A., in the aftermath of the stunning Israeli victory over
>
>Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the Six Day War of 1967, became closely allied
>
>towards Israel, because by 1967 Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and southern Yemen or
>
>Yemen Aden had moved into the Soviet camp in the Cold War, followed by Libya
>
>by 1973. Today, the greatest enemies in the Middle East for the Americans
>
>are the Shiite Iranians, the Syrian Alawites and Syrian Druze, the Lebanese
>
>Hezbollah Shiite political party, a certain percentage of the Lebanese
>
>Druze, the majority of the Druze of the Golan Heights who are pro-Syrian
>
>rather than pro-Israeli, the Sunni Arab Iraqis, and the Sunni Palestinians.
>
>
>
>After the 1967 Six Day War, Israel's defendable frontiers greatly improved
>
>with its capture of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the
>
>West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
Yes they did. The defendability of the new borders was a world
apart from the older ones, and Israel only occupied those lands AFTER
the attempt to attack the Israelis through them, yet the PLO and every
self-respecting pro-PLO propagandist claims it was just an Israeli
land grab. Of course, if they admitted that Israel's occupation of
those lands was defensive, they'd be admitting it's morally
legitimate.
Which was why they had such a difficult time buying weapons.
That ended when the Soviet Union went belly up in '91 and Russia was
willing to sell high-tech weapons to anyone with the cash. Iran has
purchased large numbers of MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters. They've also
produced an attack helicopter based on the Bell-209 Jetranger. They
changed the cockpit to tandem seating like most modern attack
helicopters, etc.
>See "The Evolution of Strategic Cooperation," by Mitchell G. Bard, in
>
>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/evolution_of_strategic_coop.html .
>
>Haifa is connected to the Israeli Mediterranean ports of Ashdod and
>
>Ashkelon, and the Israeli port of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba, an inlet of
>
>the Red Sea, by the Trans-Israel oil pipeline. From 1968-1979, Europe
>
>obtained a large part of its petroleum supply from the Shah's Iran, which
>
>was transported via supertankers through the Trans-Israel pipeline. In 2003,
>
>the Russians reached a deal with the Israelis whereby they would supply East
>
>Asia with Russian petroleum transported from the Black Sea port of
>
>Novorossiysk through the Trans-Israel pipeline. See "Trans-Israel pipeline,"
>
>in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Israel_pipeline , and "EAPC-Eilat
>
>Ashkelon Pipeline Company," in http://www.eapc.co.il .
>
>
>
>In 1973, the year when the Yom Kippur War broke out between Israel and the
>
>Egyptian-Syrian military alliance, 35% of the total U.S. oil supply was
>
>provided from foreign oil imports, and 12% of U.S. oil imports in 1973 came
>
>from the Middle East. By 2005, 57% of the total U.S. oil supply came from
>
>foreign oil imports. The Arab OPEC countries supplied the U.S.A. with 26% of
>
>its oil imports in 2004, and in 2004 24% of U.S. oil imports came from the
>
>Persian Gulf states. See "U.S. Middle East Policy and Oil," in
>
>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/usoil.html .
>
>
>
>Although I personally believe that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should
>
>form an independent Palestinian state, I believe that Israel should
>
>permanently incorporate the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem into the state
>
>of Israel.
I've looked at the map, and it looks to me like the West Bank
is essential to preventing another invasion through it. If the
"Palestinians" (read "Jordanians") really want to be peaceful, they
could have had a state already since the '70s. Arafat's speeches to
reassure his allies that he was still committed to erasing Israel, and
that getting the West Bank and Gaza Strip back were just "the first
step" didn't make the Israelis feel very comfortable, I'm sure.
>The Golan Heights is an important source of fresh water for
>
>Israel, because its tributaries flow into the freshwater lake known as the
>
>Sea of Galilee, and that lake is used to provide irrigation for the Negev
>
>Desert by means of the water pipeline known as the National Water Carrier.
It sounds good, plus there's the fact that the Syrians have a
nasty habit of letting anyone who wants to shell Israeli farmers from
those mountains.
Raktizer Omheit
"Scotius" <wolv...@mnsi.net> wrote in message
news:ru41t1p9n3eieev0k...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:27:13 +1100, "Raktizer Omheit"
> <ceq...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>The Arab members of the OPEC group retaliated against the military and
>>
>>economic aid which the U.S.A. and Western Europe provided to Israel before
>>
>>and during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 by placing an oil embargo against
>>the
>>
>>U.S.A., which was lifted in March 1974, and by reducing oil supplies and
>>
>>placing a sharp price hike on those reduced supplies to various Western
>>
>>European nations.
>
> And it was a boon to US oil companies, the value of whose
> existing reserves rose by approximately 400%. The US oil giants were
> laughing up their sleeves about the oil embargo, and the OPEC attempt
> to "punish" the US for it's support of Israel.
>
> embargo on the U.S.A. in March 1974, so they could not have been terribly
> concerned about the plight of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the
> Gaza Strip. It also must be stated that in 1973, the Americans only
> imported 12% of their oil imports from the Middle East, and in 1973 a
> total of 35% of American oil came from foreign imports. In 2004, the
> U.S.A. imported 57% of its oil from overseas, and the Middle East supplied
> some 26% of American oil imports in that year. Unfortunately for the
> Europeans in 1973, they were forced to import 80% of their oil imports
> from the Middle East, and the figure for Japan was 90%. Only in 1975 did
> the British begin to pump petroleum from the North Sea with the completion
> of an oil pipeline linking the off-shore oil fields to the British coast.
> in 1967, and the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt in 1967,
> helped the Israelis greatly in the 1973 war. Nevertheless, Jordan did not
> participate in the 1973 war, partly because the Israelis saved Jordan from
> a Syrian invasion in 1970 which would have aided the West Bank Palestinian
> refugees living in Jordan in their uprising against the Jordanian
> government. The Americans under the Ford, Carter, and Reagan
> administrations did however pressurize the Israelis into withdrawing from
> the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula in three stages, in 1975, 1979, and 1982. The
> Suez Canal, which had been closed since the 1967 war, reopened in 1975.
> The Egyptian Sumed or Gulf of Suez to Mediterranean oil pipeline,
> constructed between 1967 to 1977, has provided a means of shipping oil
> from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea in
> supertanker ships which cannot pass through the Suez Canal, from the
> Egyptian port of Ain Sukhna on the Gulf of Suez to the Egyptian port of
> Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean Sea. As part of the 1979 Peace Treaty
> between Israel and Egypt, the Egyptians agreed to supply Israel with oil
> from the Gulf of Suez and the Sinai Peninsula. In 1975, the Saudi Arabian
> port of Yanbu al' Bahr, on the Red Sea coast, and the site of a Saudi
> naval base, became connected to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia's Persian
> Gulf coastlands and off shore oil fields with the completion of three oil
> pipelines.
> in 2003 to ship Russian oil from the Black Sea port of Novorissysk to the
> Israeli port of Ashkelon on the Mediterranean Sea, which is connected to
> the Trans-Israel oil pipeline which connects also the Israeli
> Mediterranean ports of Haifa and Ashdod to the Israeli port of Eilat on
> the Gulf of Aqaba, an inlet of the Red Sea. From Eilat, the Russian oil
> will be shipped to East Asia. The Israeli port of Haifa is also frequently
> visited by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps on its way through the
> Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal and
> the Red Sea. The Trans-Israel oil pipeline used to supply Europe with oil
> from the Shah's Iran from 1968-1979.
>
>
>>The Golan Heights is an important source of fresh water for
>>
>>Israel, because its tributaries flow into the freshwater lake known as the
>>
>>Sea of Galilee, and that lake is used to provide irrigation for the Negev
>>
>>Desert by means of the water pipeline known as the National Water Carrier.
>
> It sounds good, plus there's the fact that the Syrians have a
> nasty habit of letting anyone who wants to shell Israeli farmers from
> those mountains.
>
> Israel before the 1967 war, and Syria without the Golan Heights still has
> more than enough territory when compared to Israel, as well as water
> resources from their coastal Mediterranean mountains, as well as from the
> Orontes and Euphrates rivers.