In an interview with the Houston Chronicle earlier this week, T. Boone Pickens singled out a disturbing phenomenon regarding America’s new found oil and gas reserves, one with serious ramifications for our economy.
Over the past year, as U.S. oil production has surged to an 18-year high, the Saudis have made a conscious decision to curtail their domestic oil production to a 19-month low. The result? Higher prices at the pump for U.S. consumers.
“OPEC is a cartel,” Pickens said. “They control prices with production. Since October, the Saudis have sharply curbed production, and consumers are seeing the impact at the pumps today.”
According to the Chronicle, the “U.S. can’t beat OPEC at its own game, and we shouldn’t try.” Instead, another possibility looms, one that Pickens proposed in a meeting at the Energy Department earlier this week.
But his latest proposal, which he outlined in a speech to the Energy Department on Tuesday, bears consideration. He wants to leverage recent increases in domestic oil and natural gas production to break OPEC’s grip over the U.S. economy.
In essence, the legendary energy executive is calling for “fuel competition,” especially for motor fuels. Thanks to hydraulic fracturing, natural gas is abundant and cheap, making natural gas the logical choice to bridge the gap between current transportation needs and the more viable renewable fuels we’ll need in the future.
“Natural gas is the answer,” Pickens said.
Read the full article in the Houston Chronicle HERE (subscription required).