The large hedge fund run by Texas energy king T. Boone Pickens has lost $1 billion this year. He bet that oil would go up. Instead, it went down. That makes his push for wind power and the use of natural gas to run cars look a little silly.
According to The Wall Street Journal," the downturn in energy has blindsided the industry veteran, leaving one of his hedge funds that focuses on energy stocks down almost 30% through August." Pickens says that oil will move back up unless the global economy goes into a very deep recession.
The loss make Pickens look like a fool. He has been lobbying both in Congress and in public that high oil prices are killing the U.S. economy. The U.S., he says, needs to move its energy consumption to natural gas and wind energy. His big push is to cut America's dependence on foreign oil.
His plan relies on converting the auto industry's manufacturing process to one that builds cars that use natural gas. The industry is moving toward electric power. He also wants to set up windmill farms all over the U.S. How these will connect into the current electricity power grid still has to be worked out. In other words, it may not work at all.
If oil prices keep going down, oil may still be the least expensive way to power cars and industry. The huge cost of turning the nation's infrastructure to operating on other energy sources is simply too great. And Pickens is losing his credibility as an energy expert if he can't even forecast the price of crude.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Reader Comments (Page 8 of 8)
9-26-2008 @ 7:05PM
cgranny said...
Tboone has it for the long term, but right now we are in short term crisis mode, however I still believe he has the right idea
9-26-2008 @ 4:17PM
carol levart said...
First of all, i like T.Pickens idea noboay else has come up with anything that might work. As for him being called a fool well lets put it this way I was HE would teach me how to be a FOOL. I ADMIRE SOMEONE LIKE HIM WHO USES HIS BRAIN AND IS NOT AFRAID OF CHALLENGES. HEY T.PICKENS IF YOU HAVE ANY SPARE CHANGE, I COULD USE IT. WOULDNT MIND MEETING SOMEONE AS INTELLIGENT AS YOURSELF. I'M BEHIND YOU ALL THE WAY. YOU WILL SHOW THEM JUST WAIT AND SEE THANKS
9-26-2008 @ 4:26PM
Don Quixote said...
Obviously Mr. "Douglas A. McIntyre" is the Real FOOL. Must be in the Oil industry pocket or a competator of T.Boone...
Absolutely T. Boone is right on the money. How "fuelish" to think gas will get back to being cheap and the source for us to use like "Old Times"....this numbnuts wasn't around during Arab Oil Embargo 1 and 2...his head is where the sun don't shine.
The real blame for our current fiscal crisis lies at the doorstep of that lying BULLSHITTER at 1900 Pennsylvania Ave and the rest of the RWN's (Right Wing Nuts) who sold out the US treasury to the likes of Haliburton, Bechtel, Phiser...forget impeachment....I want a trial for Treason. This is far worse than Nixon's high crimes against the USA.
9-26-2008 @ 6:54PM
hal said...
I moved to California 30 yrs ago. 15 yrs ago they loaded our beutiful hills with 300s of windmills. The next complaint was they
killed the birds. Then came unsightly as you couldn,t see the hills. After you saw some laying on the ground,most stopped
working because the government cut off the incentives. They are rusting and have had many owners to this date.
We were told that they would lower our electric bills. My electric bill for a small home was over $500. for the month.
Before you jump into anything that promises you all these great dreams and change, check it out carefully, don't blindly
follow the pied piper because you are the one that will drown.
9-26-2008 @ 5:58PM
DR.EDSON ANDRE' JOHNSON D.D.ULC said...
EVEN T.BOONE PICKENS CAN MAKE WRONG CHOICES.!WHY NOT A W.P.A. (SEE WORKS PROJECT ADMINSTRATION A NEW DEAL PROGRAM FOR OUT OF WORK AMERICANS THAT BUILY BRIDGES, DAMS, ROADS PUBLIC BUILDINGS ETC.) A W.P.A. FOR SUSTANABLE ENERGY? OR A G.E.N.E. GLOBAL ENERGY NEW ENERGY CORP A SORTA OF "PEAC CORP" FOR NEW ENERGY?
9-26-2008 @ 6:25PM
retired airline capt said...
even 'the donald' could make millions..... if daddy gives you your first few millions to start with. we need to do both....drill and alternate. it's not 'one or the other'.
9-26-2008 @ 10:04PM
charlie said...
What year was that down turn, I cant in my life time recall that, and then the call him a fool. Good research and reporting you garbage pale. Do something worth while like tryin to generate some back bone in the tax paying low quality of life majority of the people in this country who get kicked in the teeth day by day by the criminals running our country and the 1% controling all the wealth.This 2 sets of laws that we live by and is determined by wealth is making my life and rights of having a peaceful and unrestrained life were i determine my comfort and qaulity of my life.This federal goverment allows these life draining criminals to still keep the millions they made destroying millions of lives and futures lives and thier allowed to keep all the finest thing in life and bail out thier bad businesses and be in the same jobs with thier sickining salaries to have those grand life styles and continuing to what it really is murdering the hard working tax paying good people in our country.Our gov allows congress men to be pedaphiles and theres no laws against that in thier laws, they just laugh and make jokes of the men raping kids.In our laws people like that are lucky to make it to jail with all there lims, eyes or ears.It is the best country in the world but we have been takin over by the worst kind and they want us to be like we are not reacting to what they have done to us and they want it to continue. We have to do something about it, they wont take my dignityand losin my life to try to make our kids and thier kids and so on to get back to loving your life and injoying every minute of it and not having that 1% determine what kind of quality of life they will allow you,will leave me feeling my life was well spent. peace
9-27-2008 @ 2:39AM
T Boone said...
jim said...
I'd rather have him in charge than Bush/Cheney?Mccain.
Since your connecting McCain with Bush i must connect your bro Obama with Rev Wright...Id much rather have someone Like T boone and McCain that loves America and have helped it many times over,over the years,then to have an a$$ole that is only looking out for #1 Power Hungry hate Mongerer Obama.Are you so naive to believe that someone that says as many sexist bigoted comments here and there and went to a church for 20 years that spewed Racial Epitaths out the ASS cares about anyone else that doesn't look or think exactly like him.Come on even you are not that much of a moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!T Boone and McCain are both Repubs btw..i guess you hate T boone now don't you??MCain that you hate so much btw was loved by the De's for years because he is one of the only Senators that has worked 55% bi-partisan bills by McCain...Obam who claims to be bi-partisan has only 13% bi-partisan co sponsership of bills,how does that work? McCain has the change we can believe in Obama only has rhetoric to fool the naive.
9-27-2008 @ 2:47AM
T Boone said...
1419-26-2008 @ 4:26PM
Don Quixote said...
Obviously Mr. "Douglas A. McIntyre" is the Real FOOL. Must be in the Oil industry pocket or a competator of T.Boone...
Whatt a fukking douche!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't approve of you.
9-28-2008 @ 12:00PM
DP said...
T. Boone has the right idea but he thinks he "knows" the best solution. I think everyone can agree that using oil from "evil empires" like the Middle East, Venezuela, and Russia is not a good for America. So just tax the crap out of any imported oil! Increased prices will destroy demand. Using imported oil is a sin so tax it like cigarettes and let the free markets find the alternative solutions.
10-01-2008 @ 11:03AM
ekg said...
We are morons! We burn off natural gas in distilling fossil fuels. We have all the enery we need. We just need to stay with Boone and treat Washington like Wall Street. They are a useless tumor on our existence
10-07-2008 @ 10:22AM
LISASAIN said...
The writer of this article is a fool!
10-08-2008 @ 6:36PM
Jack said...
smart investors are making a fortune right now
find out more at ...
www.WallStreetStocks.us
10-09-2008 @ 8:15AM
Nancy said...
This article is obviously written by an oil commodities writer, so no surprise on this thoughts. Renewable energy is the ONLY answer & getting away from dependence on foreign oil is totally necessary, even with a short term drop in oil prices. Remember -- it's still SUBSTANTIALLY higher than just 3 years ago!
10-09-2008 @ 5:11PM
richard roethel said...
oil prices will rise and fall with demand. however energy independance is a national security issue. whenever we import oil from countries that don't like us we risk or independence and security. In the 1970s Brazil decided to become energy independent . It took a lot of work but they did it. Imaging that a third world country showing the united stated how to do it. Let get to it no matter which way the wind is blowing at any one particular moment. Afetr all we are americans and if we wnat we can accomplish anything
10-11-2008 @ 10:47PM
Kristin said...
How can anyone think that a billionaire is a fool? Do you think he just got lucky? Texas Tea? Jeb Clampett is no relative of T. Boone's. He presents some very good arguments on his website.
While stationed in Germany we were surrounded by wind farms--worked great and the locals' electric costs were a pittance of what ours are here.
To say the infrastructure isn't in place is ludicrous. It wasn't in place for FIOS anywhere 2 years ago, was it? Yet, look at how many places now have it!
And we should be able to figure out how to harness all the energy rolling in off the Atlantic and Pacific. There are many promising studies there.
Oil isn't replenishing itself; so I'm quite baffled as to how you can possibly think that the answer is to continue to drill without exploring other alternatives? That's just irresponsible.
Bottom line is we have to start some place. And some ONE has to be the grown up and step up and say "Not only are we CAPABLE of doing this--we WILL do this."
I guess you think that American Ingenuity is dead... Perhaps it's time for you to pull on your big boy pants like the rest of us. It appears your due for a diaper change.
Perhaps if the government awarded more grants in the field of Alternative Energy rather than to study the mating habits of the tse fly we'd be not be facing a Northern Winter with our coats on inside our homes.
Go T. Boone! He is the electric light at the end of our tunnel.
10-16-2008 @ 10:34PM
DON said...
T BOONE HAS SPECIAL INTERESTS IN WESTERN LANDS AND IS ONLY PUSHING THIS FOR HIS OWN BENEFIT....ALL OF YOU SHOULD AT LEAST READ SOMETHING OTHER THAN AOL....TRY THE NATIONAL REVIEW, WALL STREET JOURNAL...DO SOME RESEARCH INSTEAD OF CONDONING THE TREE HUGGER MENTALITY....