Question

Why did the OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) vote to embargo oil exports to the United States beginning in October 1973?
A. The United States had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War earlier that month
B. Beginning that summer, the U.S state dept. had decreased the number of visas allotted to Arab nations.
C. American oil companies had been flooding the world market with cheap Alaskan oil.
D. The U.S banned American tourists from visiting the holy land due to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
E. The U.S refused to negotiate with the North Vietnamese, a close ally of the Arab s

Answer 1

Hint: The main goal of OAPEC is to preserve the cooperation of a large number of members on various aspects of economic activity in the fuel industry, and to establish good ties between them to provide for legitimate means in order to maintain the individual and collective efforts of its members within the industry.

Complete Answer:
OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) –
The Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries Organization is a multi-governmental organization based in Kuwait, which is responsible for coordinating energy policies between the Arab oil producers.
During 1973, in revenge for the U.S. decision to supply the Israeli military and to gain influence in post-war peace talks, Arab members of the Organisation, the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC), put an embargo on the United States.
 The embargo was extended by the Arab OPEC members, including the Netherlands, Portugal, and South Africa, to other countries supporting Israel.
The embargo both restricted the sale of petroleum to the target countries and brought about decreases in oil production. A decade-old mechanism of pricing had already destabilized several years of deals between oil-producing countries and oil firms, which compounded the impact of the embargo.
As a reaction to the US and Western Europe's support of Israel at the 1973 Yom Kippur War, OPEC announced the oil embargo in October 1973. As a result, oil prices rose from 3 dollars per barrel to 12 dollars and gas rationing began. Prices continued to grow long after the embargo had ended.
Hence, Option A. The United States had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War earlier that month is the correct answer.

Note: These assumptions were destroyed in 1973 as a result of the oil embargo imposed by OAPEC representatives leading to fuel scarcity and high prices for many years.
A turning point for the company was the oil crisis of 1973.