Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, stated on Monday that the United States should continue pumping more oil and gas to assist ease the global energy crisis, comparing the situation to a national security risk on the scale of a war.
Speaking to CNBC, Dimon called the situation “quite expected” and encouraged Western partners to back the U.S. in leading efforts to ensure global energy security. Dimon attributed the crisis’ occurrence to Europe’s historical overdependence on Russian energy.
At the JPM Techstars conference in London, Dimon said, “In my opinion, America should have been pumping more oil and gas and it should have been supported.”

“America must assume true leadership responsibilities. America, not Saudi Arabia, is the swing producer. We ought to have done it starting in March,” he added, alluding to the beginning of the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Europe has been at the centre of that crisis, experiencing increasing costs and a decreasing supply as a result of sanctions imposed against the Kremlin. Europe was previously a significant importer of Russian energy, depending on the nation for up to 45% of its natural gas demands.
While the EU has achieved its goals for securing gas supplies for the upcoming winter, Dimon noted that now is the time for leaders to consider future energy security issues.

In order to cut coal use, move to renewable energy, and provide security for people, the globe isn’t producing enough oil and gas right now, he said. “I would classify it as critical. Nothing less than a war situation should be applied to this situation at this moment, he continued.
“Pearl Harbor,”
Dimon compared the attack on Ukraine to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 or Pearl Harbor, when referring to the conflict in Ukraine more generally.
He declared, “It’s Czechoslovakia, it’s Pearl Harbor, and it’s truly an attack on the West.”

The CEO added that it also offered the West a chance to “get its act together” and stand up for its principles against authoritarian governments.
There is some validity to the autocratic world’s belief that the West is rather inefficient and lethargic, according to Dimon.
He continued, “This is the opportunity to get our act together and to cement the Western, free, democratic, capitalist, free people, free movements, freedom of expression, and free religion for the next century.
“Because if we get this one wrong, you can see that type of instability all over the planet for the next 50 years,” he said.