Not the way I remember it. The Arab embargo was about 1973. Carter and Nixon installed price controls. Reagan removed them. Read Wikipedia:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"The 1979 (or second) energy crisis occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. In the wake of protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979, allowing Ayatollah Khomeini to gain control. The protests shattered the Iranian oil sector.
"While the new regime resumed oil exports, it was inconsistent and at a lower volume, driving up prices. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations increased production to offset the decline, and the total loss in production was just about 4%. However, a widespread panic resulted, driving the price far higher than would be expected under normal circumstances.
"In the United States, the Carter administration instituted price controls. This resulted in long lines appearing at the gas stations as they had six years earlier. As the average vehicle of the time consumed between 2-3 liters of gas an hour while idling, it was estimated at the time that Americans wasted up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day idling their engines in the lines at gas stations.
"During the period, many people believed the oil shortages were artificially created by the oil companies to drive up prices, rather than created by natural factors beyond any human control or influence. Further, while in a market economy, shortages would be expected to drive up prices, causing a contraction in demand, of themselves they would be unlikely to result in lines at the gas pump but for artificial regulations and price controls. Many politicians proposed gas rationing, such as the Governor of Maryland, who proposed odd-even rationing (only people with an odd-numbered license plate could purchase gas on an odd-numbered day). This did not last long.
"President Jimmy Carter made symbolic efforts to encourage energy conservation, such as wearing a sweater and urging citizens not to turn up their thermostats, and installing solar power panels on the roof of the White House and a wood stove in the living quarters. However, his successor Ronald Reagan ordered the solar panels removed and the wood stove was dismantled. Carter made a speech arguing the oil crisis was "the moral equivalent of war." More importantly, Carter, as part of his administration's efforts at deregulation, proposed removing price controls that had been imposed in the administration of Richard Nixon during the 1973 energy crisis. Congress agreed to remove price controls in phases; they were finally dismantled in 1981 under Ronald Reagan.
My grandfather was VP of Distribution for the East Coast for a large oil company during the 'oil crises' of the 70s. He told me on many occasions that there was never a lack of oil in those times.
The problems that he faced were with gas transportation. Namely, how to get the different formulas of gas that are mandated by different local governments to where they needed to be. For instance, there would a huge supply of Formula X gas in Texas, but it needed to be in New York City. Supply has the appearance of being short, demand goes up, price goes up and we have a 'crisis'.
The issues that he faced then, as we are facing now, are largely the making of the environment lobby, and poorly informed politicians. One of the previous posts hit it out of the park when they said that having pols set energy policy was foolish, as they are equally likely to listen to Barbara Striesand, as they are to an informed scientist.