The 1975 congressional feasibility study on “Oil fields as military objectives”: U.S.–Saudi Arabian relations and the repercussions of the 1973 oil crisis

The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) members’ decision in October 1973 to impose an oil embargo upon the United States was a historic turning point. Although the embargo against the United States was lifted in March 1974, the potential threat of a new embargo continued to shadow U.S.– Saudi relations. In response, Washington developed serious contingency plans. The article analyzes the factors that led the U.S. Congress in 1975 to commission a feasibility study entitled Oil Fields as Military Objectives, and attempts to answer how effective the threat of military occupation of the oil fields and the commissioning of the study itself actually were in “persuading” Saudi Arabia to end contemplating imposing a second embargo.