The 1973 oil crisis begins on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announce, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they will no longer ship oil to nations that have supported Israel in its conflict with Syria, Egypt, and Iraq (the United States, its allies in Western Europe, and Japan).At the same time, OPEC members agree to use their leverage over the world price-setting mechanism for oil in order to raise world oil prices, after the failure of negotiations with the "Seven Sisters" earlier in the month.

Because of the dependence of the industrialized world on crude oil and the predominant role of OPEC as a global supplier, these price increases are dramatically inflationary to the economies of the targeted countries, while at the same time suppressive of economic activity.