The impact of rising energy prices on household energy consumption and expenditure patterns: The Persian Gulf crisis as a case example

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war between Iraq and an international alliance led by the United States triggered immediate increases in world oil prices. Increases in world petroleum prices and in US petroleum imports resulted in higher petroleum prices for US customers. In this report, the effects of the Persian Gulf War and its aftermath are used to demonstrate the potential impacts of petroleum price changes on majority, black, and Hispanic households, as well as on poor and nonpoor households. The analysis is done by using the Minority Energy Assessment Model developed by Argonne National Laboratory for the US Department of Energy (DOE). The differential impacts of these price increases and fluctuations on poor and minority households raise significant issues for a variety of government agencies, including DOE. Although the Persian Gulf crisis is now over and world oil prices have returned to their prewar levels, the differential impacts of rising energy prices on poor and minority households as a result of any future crisis in the world oil market remains a significant long-term issue.