BL: In reversal, Pickens now sees $150 oil
By DANIEL WHITTENBloomberg News
Boone Pickens, a billionaire energy investor, said he's reversed course and is betting the price of crude oil will rise.
The original forecast
Just two months ago, when crude-oil futures had pulled back to $98 a barrel, Pickens said they would fall further.
Pickens said in a Feb. 21 interview on CNBC: "Oil is going to back off here in the second quarter. It'll be back above $100 in the second half."
'We missed'
Pickens, 79, the founder and chairman of Dallas-based BP Capital Llc., said Thursday in a speech at Georgetown University that the price of crude will only continue to climb and demand will eventually be dampened.
"The position is long, not short," Pickens told reporters after his speech. "I covered the short position, it was a mistake on my part. We missed."
Crude-oil futures in New York touched $115.54 a barrel Thursday, the highest intraday price since trading began in 1983.
The new forecast
Pickens said he thought that oil was approaching $125 a barrel. Oil will eventually reach $150 per barrel, he said, while cautioning, "I won't be investing in $150 oil."
His newest bet: wind
He plans to invest $10 billion in 4,000 megawatts of wind projects within the next several years.
"We are going to put a lot of money into wind next month," Pickens said, adding he expects at least a 25 percent return on his investment.
This story includes material from Star-Telegram archives.
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