1975 world oil market chronology

• January 1: U.S. Federal oil depletion allowance eliminated for large producers.
• January 13: Business Week publishes Kissinger interview hinting at military action against oil countries in case of "actual strangulation."
• April 7–15: Preliminary meeting in Paris on world economic crisis between oil-exporting (Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela), oil-importing (European countries, United States, Japan), and non-oil Third World countries (India, Brazil, Zaire). Talks collapse after nations fail to decide whether agenda should focus on oil/energy issues or have a broader economic scope.
• April 9: Twenty-four OECD members sign an agreement to establish a $25 billion lending facility to provide assistance to industrial nations hurt by high oil prices.
• June 13: World Bank establishes its "Third Window," a fund to make loans to countries too rich to qualify for "soft" no-interest loans, but too distressed to afford loans at the prevailing normal lending rates. Action represents significant cooperation between oil-exporting and industrial nations.
• September 24: OPEC announces a 15 percent increase in government per barrel revenues as of October 1.
• October 28: Venezuela and foreign oil companies agree on nationalization as of January 1, 1976.
• December 1: Kuwait and Gulf and BP agree on terms of nationalization.
• December 9: Iraq completes nationalization by taking over the BP, CFP, and Shell shares of the Basrah Petroleum Company.
• December 22: U.S. President Gerald Ford signs the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) effective February 1976. Authorizes the establishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), participation in International Energy Program, and oil price regulation.