i'm trying to remember exactly why the arab oil embargo happened in 73.....was it them being greedy, or was there an "oil shortage"?
then there was the one in 79......that i remember was an "oil shortage",
1973 the Arab countries reduced supply, driving up the oil price. In 1979 there was a revolution in Iran, followed by a war between Iran and Iraq, that reduced oil production by both countries.
Both are examples of the sort of short term problems that can have a major effect on oil prices. We are probably even more vulnerable to such situations now because oil demand is very high, and there is very little spare capacity.
Then the scientists got political about it and "predicted" that this was just the beginning.. playing to the fears of people in lines for gas to get to work
What have "scientists" got to do with forecasting political developments in the Persian Gulf area? Many environmentalists, politicians and the media were certainly predicting disaster, but "scientists" don't really have much to do with forecasting political events.