Jamie Dimon: Oil crisis should be treated 'almost as a matter of war at this point'

He described it as an issue he would put in the 'critical category'

The energy crisis should be treated "almost as a matter of war at this point, nothing short of that," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday.

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Dimon, speaking to CNBC's Julianna Tatelbaum, said the "longer-term problem" was the world is "not producing enough oil and gas to reduce coal, make the transition [to green energy], create security for people." He called it an issue he would put in the "critical category."

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Tatelbaum asked the JPMorgan Chase CEO how worried he is about Europe in the upcoming winter in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine and the energy supply. He responded that he thinks "we're getting energy completely wrong."

Jamie Dimon

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 22, 2022. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

It was "pretty predictable" that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "going to cut off some gas and certain oil," causing prices to rise further, Dimon said. Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, with Russia responding by reducing or cutting off gas supplies to European nations. 

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He also said countries like China, Indonesia, Germany and the Netherlands have turned back to coal amid the energy crisis.

Jamie Dimon JP Morgan standing behind a JP Morgan logo

CEO Jamie Dimon during the inauguration of the new French headquarters of JPMorgan on June 29, 2021, in Paris. (Michel Euler/Pool/AFP via / Getty Images)

"In my view, America should have been pumping more oil and gas, and it should have been supported," he told CNBC. 

Jamie Dimon JPMorgan

Jamie Dimon speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in London on May 4, 2022. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Dimon noted it "sounds like" Europe has enough energy supplies to get through the winter, at which point he pivoted to the "longer-term problem" of the global oil and gas crisis. The JPMorgan Chase CEO urged America to "play a real leadership role."

"America is the swing producer, not Saudi Arabia," he said. "And we should have gotten that right starting in March. It's almost too late to get it right because obviously these are longer-term investments."

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OPEC+ ministers recently announced oil production would be cut by 2 million barrels per day, FOX Business previously reported. The White House had reportedly been pushing Saudi Arabia not to slash production amid high oil and gas prices.