Oil and geopolitics: the oil crises of the 1970s and the Cold War

Examination of the geopolitics of oil in the 1970s provides important insights into the nature and dynamics of the Cold War. Possession of ample
domestic oil supplies and the ability to ensure access to foreign oil reserves were significant elements in the power position of the United States in its Cold War competition with the Soviet Union. U.S. oil production peaked in 1970,however, making the U…