'Distortion of facts and the science': The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the powerful organization that oversees Middle Eastern oil production, blamed high gasoline prices on the shift toward renewable energy worldwide. “I have talked about a new premium that is emerging in the energy markets that I term the transition premium,” OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo told CNBC on Tuesday. Global oil prices have skyrocketed in recent years, tripling in the past year alone, according to CNBC.