I think they are referring to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, etc. the past few wars the U.S. has been in have largely been fought over oil.

Ahh, let me revise; I meant resources not just specifically energy.

So in global political economic theory, wars over race/pride/territory are the superficial reasons for the war. The underlying cause is usually due to resources, or scarcity of. Consider that the people who start these wars are usually starting them because they want more resources. Russia invaded Ukraine because they want that territory in their sphere of influence, not the west's. But there are a couple pipelines that run through Ukraine that generate several billion dollars a year in transit revenue for both Ukraine and Russia.

Syria for example, the US instigated the Arab spring in that country and still occupies the eastern part so they can extract oil. The attempted coups in Bolivia was for Lithium mining rights. African ethnic rivalries are often over resources, etc.

If everyone had enough, most people would be happy, and if they're happy they wouldn't be fighting wars.