Mandatory Oil Import Quota Program

The Mandatory Oil Import Quota Program was a program of import restrictions on oil into the United States. Created in 1959 by Presidential Proclamation 3279 by President Dwight Eisenhower, the scheme was intended to prevent a dependence of the United States on imported petroleum supplies. From 1962, the maximum level of imports was set at 12.2% of domestic production.{{cite journal

|work=Natural Resources Journal

|title=The Mandatory Oil Import Quote Program: A Consideration of Economic Efficiency and Equity

|author=Charles J. Cicchetti, Willian J. Gillen

|date=July 1973}}

The program was established after an investigation by the director of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization established that oil imports threatened to impair US national security.{{cite book

|title=The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America

|quote=crude oil and the principal crude oil derivatives and products are being imported in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security

|chapter=Proclamation 3279: Adjusting imports of petroleum and petroleum products into the United States

|date=January 1, 1966}}

The import quota was lifted in 1973 by President Richard Nixon.{{Cite web|url = http://www.sbcountyplanning.org/energy/information/1959Quota.asp|title = 1959 U.S. Quota on Foreign Oil Imports|date = 1992|accessdate = 17 Feb 2015|website = County of Santa Barbara|publisher = County of Santa Barbara|last = Yergin|first = Daniel}}