Oil Crises

Human conflicts cause most disruptions in world oil supply. The most significant disruption was caused by the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979, which cut the worldwide flow by 5.6 million barrels a day for six months. Here are the biggest dips measured in millions of barrels lost per day:

Nov. 1956-March 1957 Suez Crisis 2
June 1967-Aug. 1967 Six-Day War 2
Oct. 1973-March 1974 Arab-Israeli War 4.3
Nov. 1978-April 1979 Iranian Revolution 5.6
Oct. 1980-Jan.1981 Iran-Iraq War 4.1
Aug. 1990-Jan. 1991 Gulf Crisis 4.3
June 2001-July 2001 June 2001-July 2001 2.1
Dec. 2002-March 2003 Venezuelan Strike 2.6
March 2003-Dec. 2003 War in Iraq 2.3

Source: International Energy Agency

NEXT STORY: Types of Action