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.^[1]

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.^[2]

The import quota was lifted in 1973 by President Richard Nixon.^[3]