An analysis of the impacts of previous oil disturbances can be used to suggest the impacts of future oil disturbances. This paper reviews how the 1973-74 Oil Crisis, the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution, and the 1980-81 Iran-Iraq War impacted the U.S. and world oil markets. Various measures of impacts are considered, such as impacts on physical flows of crude and products, crude and product price changes on the U.S. and world markets, impacts on stocks of crude and products, and impacts on refiners' inputs and outputs. Various macroeconomic indicators, such as gross national product, inflation rates, and unemployment, are also considered. Of particular interest in this study are the impacts that oil disturbances have had (and could have) on the availabilites of particular crude types and the abilities of U.S. refiners to process crudes of various types in the short run. In addition, this paper reviews how the actions of the consuming countries and the major oil companies affected the impacts of past disturbances. The paper briefly discusses the likely causes and impacts of future oil disturbances and summarizes the lessons to be learned from past reactions to oil disturbances. v < LIST OF FIGURES