The 1973 oil embargo sharply worsened the global stock-market crash by restricting oil supplies to countries supporting Israel.
On 17 October 1973, Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced an oil embargo against the United States and other countries viewed as supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo coincided with production cuts and a dramatic rise in oil prices.
Higher energy costs contributed to inflation, weaker economic growth and falling corporate profits. Stock markets in the United States, Britain and other countries declined sharply during the wider 1973–1974 bear market.
The embargo was lifted in March 1974, but oil prices remained much higher than before the crisis. The event is sometimes loosely called the OPEC oil crisis; the specific embargo was imposed by Arab oil-producing states, not by every OPEC member.