Pickens was using OPEC revenues between 2003 and 2008 as a model, he said. Those revenues clocked in at $250 billion in 2003, but just five years later they had skyrocketed to $1.250 trillion, five times that of ’03.

“If we don’t do anything,” Pickens said, “in 10 years we will be paying $300 or $400 a barrel for the oil.”

The US is already paying $1 billion a day for crude, he said, and it accounts for two-thirds of the country’s trade deficit. That doesn’t need to happen, though. If the US used its own resources, Pickens thinks the move would lead to job creation, and those dollars would stay at home.

That’s why he’s so bullish on natural gas, a fuel that’s plentiful here in the US. So much so that Cramer called Pickens “one of the biggest boosters of natural gas out there.” But he endorses more than just that one commodity. As part of the Pickens Plan he announced back in 2008, he called for the utilization of all kinds of energy – wind, electric, even ethanol – as long as it was American.

“Anything but OPEC oil,” Pickens told Cramer. “That’s what I don’t want.”

But, of course, today’s discussion was largely about natural gas, as President Obama this week put the full weight of his office behind the commodity during a speech at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Pickens took the statement to mean President Obama finally understands that nat gas is the US’s only viable competitor to diesel fuel, that nat gas is both cleaner and cheaper than crude and coal.

“And it’s ours,” Pickens said. “We’ve got to use it.”

To that end, he fully expects the NAT GAS Act presently in Congress to pass. He said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, told him he wanted an energy bill this year, Pickens said, “And that’s going to happen.”

If so, it’s about time. As Cramer pointed out, the major oil and gas companies – especially foreign firms – already have recognized natural gas’ importance, and they are buying up both smaller players and assets here in the States. Royal Dutch Shell joined in on the action just this week, paying $4 billion for a chunk of the Marcellus Shale.

But Pickens sees that as a good thing.

“The majors are moving back into the United States,” he said. “I want them back. I want them spending money here. They will figure out a way to get more recovery out of the shale gas.”

He hoped the majors would call for the use of natural gas in all transportation vehicles. Compared to the diesel being used now, nat gas is incredibly cheap. One thousand cubic feet of gas will do the same work for an 18-wheeler truck as seven gallons of diesel, but the gas costs just $4.50 per MCF while the diesel fetches $21.

“It is a steal for America to switch our heavy-duty [vehicles] over to natural gas,” Pickens said.

The conversation also touched on BP’s spill in the Gulf of Mexico. When Cramer asked what Pickens might do if it were his well that burst, he said that the company and the Coast Guard should be left alone to fix the problem. Any investigations into wrong doing should be held until after the well is sealed.

Pickens also said that a relief well was the only real solution that would work, not the “top kill” or any of the other ideas BP has tried so far.

“The relief well’s the only way you’re going too kill this well,” Pickens said, “unless you got lucky and somehow that it bridged and shut off.” But the chances of that are “one in 100 or one in 1,000.”

But Pickens doubted the relief well would be ready before August, “if you’re lucky.”

WATCH THE VIDEO:

SOURCE:
CNBC.com: “Boone Pickens – Get Ready for $400 Oil?”

By his math, the U.S. could cut its oil imports in half by creating a trucking fleet with 6.5 million 18-wheelers running on natural gas, Pickens said in an interview on NewsMax TV. Pickens believes this could be done within seven years.

Of course, there is a catch — the price tag. Pickens thinks the government will need to offer a $65,000 tax credit to truckers to entice them to purchase new natural gas-powered rigs and eschew the traditional diesel ones. The subsidy will also be useful, Boone says, as a carrot to convince infrastructure builders to create a network of natural gas distribution and filling stations that would be needed to make his plan work.

Add that up and it comes to a budget well into the tens of billions of dollars. Then again, the bailout of troubled insurance giant AIG dwarfs Pickens’ plan, which boasts other benefits aside from energy independence.

Natural gas engines have significantly lower emissions than diesel engines, although newer clean diesel engines are much more eco-friendly. Secondly, creating a natural gas pumping and filling station infrastructure for big trucks would make it much easier to replicate such a system for passenger cars and light trucks, which in turn could lead to even further reductions in dependence on foreign oil.

Pickens logic makes a lot of sense. America does have abundant reserves of natural gas. Recent major natural gas finds in several different locations around the country have dramatically increased the possible total accessible supply of this fuel source. After a long period of decline and stagnation, natural gas production in the U.S. has risen by 8 percent in 2009.

A significant chunk of that increase has come courtesy of the Barnett Shale, a geological formation underlying 5,000 square miles in Texas in the vicinity of Dallas and Forth Worth. This formation is believed to hold the largest producible reserves of any onshore natural gas field in the U.S., holding up to 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

New drilling technologies, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, have only recently made it economically viable to access the natural gas in this field. Several other shale fields around the U.S hold equal or greater production process. The confluence of new technologies and promising new discoveries has lead many energy experts to conclude that even as Peak Oil looms, America is on the cusp of a new and nearly unimaginable abundance of natural gas that could reshape energy policy and global energy politics for decades to come.

Natural gas has kept a low profile in the vehicle space but it’s not a no-show. The engine technology for natural gas vehicles is actually old hat. General Motors has over a dozen models of vehicles that run on compressed natural gas. Honda and other major carmakers already build natural gas-powered models, primarily for corporate and government vehicle fleets.

Pickens must realize, as well, that any move to shift the U.S. away from standard gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles would likely incur wrath of the ethanol lobby, a powerful pack of farmland Congressmen that also happens to include President Barack Obama himself.

Pickens’ past forays into cleantech have had mixed results. His big push for a massive Texas wind farm on his own land has foundered, in part due to the need to construct a huge power transmission corridor from rural, windy West Texas to the more populous eastern part of the Lone Star State. Building new transmission capacity has been a huge bugaboo for green energy developers due to the complicated negotiations required involving city, county, and state governments, as well as local landholders and environmental groups.

For this specific reason, IdeaLab CEO Bill Gross avoided building new transmission lines for eSolar, a thermal energy company he heads. eSolar relies on concentrated solar power collection to harvest heat that turns generators and builds its power plants next to existing transmission towers. Naturally, Boone will profit from a natural gas bonanza and new government subsidies to truckers. Pickens is heavily invested in natural gas exploration and production. Call the man a tree hugger but he’s still from Texas, folks.

Source: Daily Finance

“When I start receiving those turbines, I’ve got to … like I said, my garage won’t hold them,” the legendary Texas oilman said. “They’ve got to go someplace.”

Pickens’ company Mesa Power ordered the turbines from General Electric a $2 billion investment, a little more than a year ago. Pickens said he has leases on about 200,000 acres in Texas that were planned for the project, and he might place some of the turbines there, but he’s also looking for smaller wind projects to participate in. He said he’s looking at potential sites in the Midwest and Canada.

Posted By: C. Keddy

What’s an environmentally responsible source of clean energy that is available in America today that can eliminate our dependence on foreign oil? It’s natural gas, and it’s ready for its close-up. Natural gas reserves are abundant in the U.S. and I believe they’re key to cutting dependence on foreign oil and to powering our economic recovery.

Natural gas is America’s second largest energy resource, behind coal, and a vital component of our energy supply. T. Boone Pickens and other energy industry experts believe that domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of oil, and new discoveries of natural gas, such as what we are seeing in the Haynesville Shale, are adding to existing reserves due to the technological advances in shale gas production that have created more prolific wells. We currently have an oversupply of natural gas despite a 56% reduction in the number of rigs drilling for natural gas to 700 from the September peak of more than 1600.

In addition to being a domestically abundant and secure source of energy, the use of natural gas provides many environmental benefits over other energy sources, particularly other fossil fuels. Many Americans depend on safe, efficient and clean burning natural gas to heat and cool their homes. Natural gas fuels many manufacturing and electricity generation plants, and is a key ingredient in many products that we use every day.

Today, natural gas is one of the most commonly used sources of energy in the world. Its benefits are enjoyed by over 60 million people. Many homes use natural gas for heat as do schools and hospitals. Many stoves and water heaters use natural gas too. Industry is the biggest consumer of natural gas, using it mainly as a heat source to manufacture goods. Factories are burning natural gas to make products like paper and cement. Natural gas is also an ingredient in paints, glues, fertilizers, plastics, medicines, photographic film, ink, glue, plastics, laundry detergent, and insect repellents and many other products. Synthetic rubber and man-made fibers like nylon also could not be made without the chemicals derived from natural gas.

The Council for Responsible Energy survey established that 60 percent of Americans feel that natural gas is an environmentally friendly energy source. Fifty-one percent agree that using the gas in a home gives superior comfort and performance.

U.S. oil consumption averages more than 20 million barrels a day and Americans spend more than $500 billion on energy bills annually, according to Beacon Equity Research. I believe that as more U.S. firms discover smart ways to access fuels domestically, those numbers could drop–helping to stabilize energy costs and to keep jobs in America. Let us work together to ensure that Americans have access to low cost energy free of geopolitical rancor.

Follow Michael J. Newport on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Vorticom

The State Legislature of Oklahoma is providing incentives for companies and individuals to make better use of domestic fuels rather than using imported oil. The state is confident that jobs will be created with the need to up-fitting vehicles to run on domestic resources, plus the jobs in the production, distribution and fueling facilities for natural gas.

It’s important to note that deployments of CNG vehicles is a further sign that America’s political and business leaders recognize that we have an abundance of natural gas, and this secure and cleaner-burning domestic resource can be used to displace foreign diesel, foreign gasoline and foreign oil and offset that threat to American national security and economy.
AT&T recognizes that natural gas is an excellent replacement for imported gasoline and diesel. Recent studies have shown we have natural gas reserves in the United States which will last for 118 years.

In fact, as Boone has said, “On an equivalency basis, the study shows we have more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil. In fact, if the study is right, and you have to assume it is, we have more natural gas reserves than any other country. It’s time to put it to work as a critical bridge fuel in transportation.”

Posted by: C.Keddy

Pickens, who is promoting a plan to boost investment in wind power and natural gas to cut U.S. oil imports, said at a Calgary appearance that he sees little need for Alaskan gas given massive shale gas discoveries in the Haynesville and Barnett shale plays in Louisiana,Texas and elsewhere. “All the proven gas on the Arctic coast is 39 (trillion cubic feet). That’s not as much as you have in the Barnett shale,” Pickens said at a Calgary speech. “I don’t think a pipeline from Alaska through Canada to the lower-48 makes sense.”

Alaska has 39 tcf of gas, way up in the North. Haynesville [in Louisiana and Texas] has potentially 70 tcf of gas [close to the market], so where would you be going to get the natural gas??
Posted by: C Keddy

Source: LNGpedia

Pickens claims that U.S. energy security is his first priority. Mr. Pickens has taken iniatives that are based on dramatically reducing the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil.

“It’s going to be good for America, it’s going to be good for Canada, it’s going to be good for the producers, it’s going to be good for everybody,” he said. “I can only see that the only loser in this deal is foreign oil. And I don’t call you foreign. You don’t look foreign.”
Today, the U.S. spends $484,087 per minute to buy foreign oil, an export of currency that worked out to $475-billion in 2008.
“Mr. Pickens’ solution is two-fold. First, supply 20 per cent of U.S. electricity demand with wind from a corridor through the central U.S. he calls the “Saudi Arabia of Wind.” Then use that electricity to replace natural-gas fired power, and convert vehicles to burn natural gas”.

Mr. Pickens does not expect the gas we nee to come from the Arctic. “All the gas on the Arctic coastline is 39 trillion cubic feet,” he said. “That’s not as much as you have in the Barnett Shale, that’s sitting over there underneath Fort Worth”.

Read the Globe and Mail coverage of “T. Boone Pickens Bets on Natural Gas”

Learn more about T. Boone Pickens’ Plan to Reduce Foreign Energy Dependency- watch the video!

Posted by: Caroline Keddy

Mr. Pickens is the architect of the Pickens Plan aimed at reducing America’s increasing dependence on foreign oil. The plan calls for a comprehensive energy plan that would make better use of our abundant natural resources, including natural gas. . He has called foreign oil dependence — America imports nearly 70 percent of its oil — the greatest economic and national security threat facing our nation. More than 1.5 million Americans have joined this movement through his web site, www.pickensplan.com.

In early 2008, EXCO management decided to convert its fleet of trucks in the EXCO-operated Vernon Natural Gas Field in Jackson Parish to utilize compressed natural gas rather than gasoline or diesel for truck fuel. According to Doug Miller, (Chairman and CEO), “we built our new compressed natural gas fueling station to utilize our locally-produced natural gas for our fleet. Compressed natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline, diesel or propane and we are dedicated to doing our part to help the environment.” The EXCO compressed natural gas vehicle fueling facility is the first of its kind- illustrating EXCO‘s commitment to finding innovative alternative fuel sources for its ongoing operations.

READ MORE ABOUT EXCO

C. Keddy

Developments with the Pickens Plan is the introduction of legislation called the ‘New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2009’. The shorthand is the NAT GAS Act.

The bill covers a number the Pickens Plan elements, including:

-It extends the tax credit for natural gas used as a transportation fuel.
-It provides a tax credit for 80 percent of the additional cost when purchasing a dedicated natural gas vehicle.
-It creates incentives for the major manufacturers to sell natural gas vehicles (which they already produce for overseas markets) in the United States.
-The bill requires that 50 percent of the vehicles the federal government buys over the next five years to run on natural gas.

The US federal government will purchase 162, 500 natural gas powered light trucks and cars over the next five years. That’s a big change from the 645 they have already bought!

Be sure to look for us – Natural Gas for America – on the Pickens Plan website.
You can find us at: www.push.pickensplan.com/profile/NaturalGasForAmerica

By: C. Keddy