Be prepared!

This chapter discusses a lack of preparation for loss of oil imports. The long string of postwar crises in the Middle East had in fact forced the Western industrialized countries to face the fact that their supply of cheap oil also entailed an increased risk of supply difficulties. The chapter shows that many states also had national stockpiling schemes in place prior to the oil shock. Several European countries also have long histories of government involvement to reduce supply risks in the oil sector, including the mandatory creation of stockpiles. West Germany, traditionally a coal-based economy, also had to cope with its growing dependence on oil. European integration provided new opportunities for collective action. The European dependence on oil imports had been fostered by the Marshall planners, who believed that although Europe would remain a coal economy, ‘without petroleum the Marshall Plan could not function’.