Following appeals from many countries and the White House to increase crude oil production, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, declared at the post-OPEC+ summit press conference that “oil is not the problem.”

The energy crisis began with a natural gas shortage, which quickly extended to coal before snowballing into fertiliser, food, and other issues as it expanded across Asia and the world.

According to the Saudi Prince, the market should concentrate on the source of the problem, which is the supply of natural gas to Europe and Asia and the infrastructure that transports the goods to the market.

The double-digit rises in crude oil prices, according to Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, are nothing compared to the triple-digit hikes in natural gas and coal costs.

The White House said it would use whatever tools it had at its disposal to address the energy markets in retaliation for OPEC+’s refusal to comply with its request, and specifically targeted OPEC+, saying the group’s inaction implied that it was “unwilling to use its power to help global economic recovery.”

OPEC is still advocating prudence should supply go too far ahead of demand, even though the heaviest oil-consuming countries, such as Japan and India, have felt the sting of those double-digit price hikes. Last Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister declared on Bloomberg Television, “We are not out of the woods yet.”