T. Boone Pickens addressed the growing energy dependence problem in the United States at the Intergraph 2010 event. The U.S imports 60% of our oil, importing 13 million barrels per day, and many from countries that our state department deems hostile. We are out of sync with the world in terms of our use per capita, and this has long-term impacts on the economy.
There’s a global game for oil, with 70% of oil owned by state-owned energy companies. The U.S. doesn’t have a team or an energy plan, and we’ll be paying more and more for oil without a plan. Despite our investments in Iraq, for instance, spending money and losing people, China owns most of the resources, because they’ve purchased the largest oil fields there.
According to the Pickens Plan, we need to get on our own resources and natural gas is the answer. The focus is on security, but Pickens also believes in global warming, and promotes the fact that it’s 30% cleaner.
Transportation accounts for 70% of the oil demand in the world. The point of attack according to Pickens is the 8 million 18-wheelers that move goods around the country. Those large trucks consume 2.5 billion barrels a day, and converting them to natural gas will drive down the U.S. demand on OPEC by 50%. Pickens suggests that the next step would be that all new vehicles would run on energy produced in the United States, addressing the problem over time with new technologies. The solution would be market-driven in terms of our choice.
Looking around the world, other countries have addressed the energy problem, and he feels that we must get off foreign oil as soon as possible. We have 700 billion barrels oil equivalent of natural gas resources, and Pickens believes we must make the switch.
