Oil Imports

When saddam hussein sent his troops across the border into oil-rich Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, the stage was set for yet another global oil shock. To most everyone's surprise, the Gulf War's impact on oil supplies was less traumatic, in the long run, than expected. But the situation nonetheless forced the United States to confront its continued dependence on oil imports. During the last major energy crisis, in 1978–79, oil shortages resulted in higher prices and prompted Americans to save energy. Oil imports shrank. But the subsequent fall in oil prices prompted consumers to return to bigger, less-efficient cars, and oil imports climbed back up. Then Saddam plundered his neighbor, putting the torch to more than 500 Kuwaiti oil wells and sparking the U.S. to re-examine its energy policies.