T. Boone Pickens was a guest on CNBC’s “Fast Money” program Wednesday afternoon and said, according to the show’s website, that “The best energy bet for the United States amid rising crude prices might lay in natural gas.”
Pickens went on to say,
“There are 8½ million 18-wheelers in the United States. That’s 2½ million barrels of oil a day. So that cuts OPEC in half if you had all the 18-wheelers. Is there any obstacle from that happening? Not that I know of because the fuel is so cheap.”
With both domestic and Brent crude prices rising in the face of geopolitical uncertainty in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, Pickens used an example from the 1970’s to show how quickly this could happen.
“OK, go back to ’72 when we switched from gasoline to diesel for our heavy-duty trucks. Well, what was that all about? Price. Diesel was cheap. How long did it take to accomplish it? Five years.
“You’re exactly at the same crossroads today. I don’t see any obstacles in front of it.”
Watch the clip here.