Most people think of an oil crisis as a major loss of oil supply from some political event which creates a shortage, leading to gasoline lines, a scramble for supplies, and soaring prices. Such has not really occurred since 1979, leading to a fair amount of complacency; as the recent tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf resulted in a minor blip in oil prices. Many pointed to the 1980s Tanker War between Iran and Iraq, which had no noticeable effect on prices as informative.
