Yesterday (April 27), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council co-hosted a conference on “U.S.-Saudi Relations and Global Energy Security.” At this conference, as he has stated recently in other venues, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali al-Naimi, stated that, “There is no general shortage of crude oil in today's market -- supplies are readily available.” The Saudi Arabian minister pointed to the “balkanized gasoline markets” and a shortage in U.S. refining capacity as reasons why gasoline prices are high in the United States. But the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, Kyle McSlarrow, stated at the same conference that crude oil prices are “the driver” in the recent rise in gasoline prices.