ABSTRACT
“A nation that runs on oil can't afford to run short,” was the 1972 mantra of the American Petroleum Institute. The API had good reason to be concerned: two years earlier, in 1970, U.S. oil production, which had led the world since the days of Drake's Folly, had begun to decline. To make matters worse, America's thirst for oil was on the rise, doubling between 1950 and 1970. With consumption going up and domestic supplies going down, oil imports skyrocketed. Relying on foreign oil to fuel the American Dream, however, proved to be risky business.
