High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1970s energy crisis was a period in which the economies of the major industrial countries of the world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand were heavily affected and faced substantial petroleum shortages, real and perceived, and elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period were the 1973 oil crisis, caused by the US production peak in 1971, and the 1979 energy crisis, caused by the Iranian Revolution.