The 1979 Oil Crisis was an energy crisis characterized by a precipitous drop in oil production for the second time in the 1970s (the first being in 1973). In the wake of the Iranian Revolution, 37,000 Iranian oil refinery employees went on strike in 1978, causing Iran's oil refineries to go from producing 6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day. The global oil supply decreased by 7 percent, causing a surge in oil pricing and within 12 months oil markets had doubled to $39.50 per barrel. This surge caused major gas shortages, long gas lines, and panic buying. In the United States, the Jimmy Carter administration began a phased deregulation of oil prices on April 5, 1979, which allowed U.S. oil output to rise sharply from the Prudhoe Bay fields in Alaska, while oil imports fell sharply. It wasn't until the mid-1980s that oil prices returned to pre-crisis levels. Photograph caption dated May 3, 1979 reads, "When the prices start creeping into the high 90s, you know $1 gasoline is just around the corner. Unlike many Southland stations, which motorists have seen with their no-gas signs out front, this one in Temple City prominently advertises the fact that its pumps are open -- if you are willing to pay 97.9 cents for premium and unleaded. Regular gas is cheaper -- only by 4 cents a gallon." The ARCO station was located at North Agnes Avenue and East Las Tunas Drive.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print : b&w ; 31 x 23.5 cm. Photographic prints
Atlantic Richfield Co Service stations Gasoline pumps Gasoline supply Gas companies Automobile drivers Automobiles Signs and signboards Price marks Street signs Men Temple City (Calif.)
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