News

August 05, 2008

Billionaire Oil Man To Build US$10 Billion Wind Farm In Texas

By Christian Gradley

Eighty year-old T. Boone Pickens, founder of Mesa Petroleum and present Chairman BP Capital Management, is an oil man through-and-through. From his early years working for Phillips Petroleum, to his later years spent managing his hedge fund’s investments in Suncor Energy, ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum, his life has revolved around the black gold.

Recently though, Mr. Pickens has become rather concerned with the United States’ reliance on foreign oil.  As he puts it, in his own inimical style, “I’ve been an oilman all my life. But this is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of”. So in response to the growing problem of the US’s reliance on foreign oil, he’s come up with his “Pickens Plan”. Mr. Pickens firmly believes that within a decade the United States can be generating 20 per cent of its power needs from wind.

Not one to...