Pickens Reversal

Boone Pickens Adopts Long Position on Oil Investments
By Daniel Whitten
April 17 (Bloomberg)

Boone Pickens, a billionaire energy investor, said he reversed course and adopted a long position on oil, meaning he is betting the price of crude will rise.

Pickens, 79, the founder and chairman of Dallas-based BP Capital LLC, said today in a speech at Georgetown University that the price of crude oil 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 today, the highest intraday price since trading began in 1983.

Pickens said he thought 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.''

World oil supplies won't exceed 85 million barrels a day because of high depletion rates of existing wells, he said in his speech.

``There is only 85 million barrels of oil globally in the market coming a day and I don't think you can increase that 85 million,'' Pickens said.

World oil demand during the four years ending 2008 is rising at an average annualized pace of about 1.4 percent, according to International Energy Agency forecasts.

OPEC Reluctance

Over the same period, non-OPEC oil supply is seen climbing at a slower pace of 0.9 percent. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has this year been reluctant to commit to pumping more, saying supply and demand are in balance.

Pickens endorsed Republican presidential candidate John McCain, while criticizing his energy policies. Recent McCain proposals to stop putting oil into the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve and to suspend a gasoline tax for the summer wouldn't be good for the country, Pickens said.

``I'm hoping he will become better informed and come up with better ideas about energy than he has up to now,'' he said.

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.