The Day America Ran Out of Gas

In the winter of 1973, Americans waited two hours in line for gas, and many drove away with nothing. The oil had not run out. A handful of countries had turned off the tap. This is the story of the 1973 oil embargo: how a war in the Middle East quadrupled the price of oil in three months, crashed Wall Street, and put America on odd-even gas rationing. It is also the story of what America built so it could never happen again, from the petrodollar deal with Saudi Arabia to a stockpile of oil hidden in salt caves on the Gulf Coast. And 53 years later, with the Strait of Hormuz closed in 2026, that stockpile was put to the test. 0:00 The winter of 1973 0:35 The Weapon 1:38 Four Times the Price 2:32 The Lines 3:30 The Deal 4:24 Never Again 5:28 Fifty-Three Years Later Sources: "1973 oil crisis" (Wikipedia, with its cited primary sources); U.S. Energy Information Administration (gasoline prices, SPR inventory, 2026 outlook); U.S. Department of Energy, SPR Quick Facts; International Energy Agency statements on the 2026 disruption; Fortune, "Less than 300 million barrels left" (August 2026). #OilCrisis #History #Economics