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Some more quotes from the JP Morgan Alternative Investment Summit (AIS) this morning, with quite a different tone….

T. Boone Pickens:
“You can’t have a five minute conversation on energy in Washington. They run out of things they can talk about in less than five minutes.”

“There is more oil in Canada than Saudi Arabia. If we turn away the Keystone pipeline from Fort McMurray to the sea for China, we will go down as the dumbest nation in history.”

Robert Friedland, CEO of Ivanhoe Mines”
“The U.S. is institutionalizing stupidity by not importing Canadian oil.”

“If we can solve the porosity and access the gas, there more natural gas in Pennsylvania and New York than in China.”

“You can graph all human activity and you will see a steady increase in electrical consumption per person on the planet. And that will take more copper because copper is a better conductor than anything, except silver and gold. [incorrect, by the way] We will consume more copper in the next 20 years than the last 100 years.”

“If you don’t grow it, you have to mine it.”

“It’s a crime against humanity to make ethanol out of corn. We are driving up food prices. Just tap the gas.”

“We are trying a new fracking technology without chemicals; it used electro-magnetic pulses to free the formations. With all of the advances, we have $2.34 natural gas. Technology does not care about the idiots in Washington.”

T. Boone:
“I saw my first fracked well in 1953. I have fracked 3000 wells personally. I have not seen an aquifer damaged.”

“France has a no fracking rule. Noone has ever accused that crowd of being real smart.”

Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood
“There are more communists in France than in China. They don’t do anything like the rest of us, but eat.”

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
“Dodd Frank will work out OK. The game will not significantly change.”

“The housing problem is over. People hate projecting an inflection point and would rather say something less specific. We will have 13 million new Americans in the next 10 years and we don’t have homes for them. We destroy about 400 thousand homes a year. If we go back to 1.3 million new homes per year, then the homebuilding industry gets rid of half of the excess unemployment.”

(earlier photo I took of T.Boone)

28 responses to “T. Boone Pickens and & the Gas Heads”

  1. “There is more oil in Canada than Saudi Arabia. If we turn away the Keystone pipeline from Fort McMurray to the sea for China, we will go down as the dumbest nation in history.” There!

  2. Sounds a little agenda driven. Not sure I would take all this at face value.

  3. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/physicsman] see how (your) interests are aligned, don’t look for truth value

  4. If you don’t grow it, you have to mine it

    Which cereal packet did he get this off?

  5. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedtrifle] I think this it is the mindset of such economic operators, which is so welcome by investors in times like this. Think of it in terms of ultimate sources of value.

  6. If Friedland really said "copper is a better conductor than anything, except silver and gold. and he’s CEO of a company that produces the stuff, then he just lost massive credibility points. Copper is 25% more conductive than gold, for a given wire size. By mass, copper is almost 3x more conductive than gold.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_conducti… (and many primary sources)

  7. He sure did. Most of these quotes from Pickens and Friedland had me laughing or squirming or downright speechless. Like Boone saying that "no environmentalist would actually spend $1000 of their own money to protect the environment."

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/physicsman] – absolutely.

  8. you are all wrong.

    money conducts far better than copper.

    look, if you have to transfer a lot of power, you use money, not copper.

    (ok, occasionally lead.)

    but not copper.

    silly people!

  9. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works] sure thing!

  10. What is the biggest thing on the agenda?

  11. The cost of this man’s suit he is wearing is enough for me to pay my
    rent for 5 months ($500/m),
    Pay for my internet for 3 months ($35/m)
    Car insurance for 6 months ($340/6m)
    electric 1 month($150/m)
    And that is just his suit!
    "When you are lacking concept of reality you have lost the will of our most primal instinct, love, all because of the overwhelming desire for greed."
    "I encourage ANYONE who wants to run for public office, leave your wallet at home and go live on the street for 30 days, no home, no money, the clothes you have is what is on your back, survive 30 days like that, you’ll be "EARNING" votes! Especially mine. Buying votes is not the American process."

    I am an Independent.
    I rely on my own skills to survive in this economy.
    I am an American!
    NOBODY represents me
    QUESTION: Do you think T. Boone Pickens could live on the street for 30 days with nothing but his brain?
    I would give him 12 days personally.
    ~ Virginian Highlander – 2012
    Out of touch with reality? example:
    "In July 2009, Pickens was the subject of controversy after he had a construction crew go to his grandmother’s former home in Holdenville, Oklahoma and remove a slab of driveway concrete that he had signed as a child. The current owner of the home asserted ownership, and the slab was returned. In February 2010, a judge ruled that the slab belonged to the current homeowner."

  12. I find if very disconcerting that the people who have the desire and capability to make the world a better place through their brilliant innovation and development are used for profit by those who are inept in this respect.

    I had to forgo an asthma medication that relives my chronic asthma because of the $248 price tag for a months worth. I can only speculate on the companies unit cost but I would wager gross profit over helping people. But again, I’m speculating somewhat bitterly.

  13. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/physicsman] Only way (sadly) is if those that set those prices all have difficulty breathing at some time in their lives, it would take a majority of the board (majority rules) for them to come to the conclusion, and of course, they must have no money also for the reality to really sink in IE; bread on the table OR breathing, hmmm, rolls eyes.
    To better, healthier days my fellow American!

  14. that concrete slab incident is most revealing.
    that is what extreme narcissism looks like 🙂

  15. Working in energy, oil & gas, coal, etc. I have a lot to lose if we move away from these products, but you know what? F*ck it, idiots like these guys are shameful, they make me feel bad about even being paid by them.
    Gah, those quotes, man, I mean like wow, really? You said that and you were being serious? Do you believe it, are you that misled by your engineers?

  16. I suggest that those opposing gas&oil consider alternatives. That is, try to see what, and how much, has to change around us. When you get to the relation among oil, currency and hegemony, you’ll have gone halfway through the process; the other half is the juicier.

  17. “There are more communists in France than in China. They don’t do anything like the rest of us, except want tight pussy, loose shoes and a warm place to shit.”

    oh wait, did I just cross quotes? sorry, my bad.

    but did it change the meaning, any?

    ok, then!

  18. I suggest that those opposing gas&oil consider alternatives. That is, try to see what, and how much, has to change around us. When you get to the relation between oil, currency and hegemony, you’ll have gone halfway through the process; the other half is the juicier

    Can you rephrase this please? I was up all night on a Chevron sponsored turtle watching tour and your comment is making little sense.

  19. I’m slightly more awake now.

    Yes, every one should consider what the alternatives to oil and gas are. Every one, every single person that uses energy should think about it.
    Maybe then we’d get a solution that is viable.
    Otherwise, it seems that you are implying that it’s too hard.

  20. …the only missing ingredient there is power, expressed in terms of hegemony in my initial comment.

    Then you write, "Maybe then we’d get a solution that is viable," to which I say, precisely.

    In any case, it’s too hard, indeed, at least for those at the peak of their power.

    Is there hope for people who, like I, care somewhat less about hegemony and more about clean ways? The Germans seem to think it is, even though it all seems to come at a high cost now–think of their regulated subsidies for alternative energy and discussions to the effect that solar is not working out on paper.

    From the other end of the world, China, the whole thing is getting serious when they figure it’s too expensive to carry on with a population sickened by pollution. Not sure where the Indians are on this.

  21. I thought any good investor strives to uncover the underlying truths about every company and industry before they invest. What are these guys getting out of their misinformation and lies? Are they really that misguided? Or do they want to mislead us in a way that benefits their agenda?

    Does this mean their mutual funds and other portfolios have enormous investments in Canadian oil and gas and now we, as clients and a government, are supposed to invest our retirement money in their crummy portfolios to effectively bail them out? Are these the same guys my taxes just bailed out?!?!?!? Blows my mind.

    Sounds like the mis-information squad.

  22. I want to know, how are "We the people" going to stop the corruption before our eyes. Buying this, buying that, when does "free" speech start and where does it end? I am so naive! Another 5 million $ to Newt today through Citizens United (Miriam Adelson), which is so polluted with corruption it smells like bad eggs, and that’s over the internet I can smell it.

  23. Hey…we Canadians are shipping our LNG to China soon.
    Just have to build a bigger freezer.
    http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/858511/kitimat-lng-partners-anno...

  24. Oil people always tell the same story…. It is just one more mining operation, there is plenty of oil, just a technical problem getting to it, advances in technology will solve this… "miracles of science" yadayada.

    What they don’t want to talk about is redefining what "the good life" is. Whether the American Way of Life is scalable, not just in China and India, but in the USA itself.

  25. Canadians are paying more for oil than Americans. Hm.. That could be reason for Obama’s predicament.

  26. So I’m reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, and on pages 37-40:

    ”Robert Friedland was one of the few people in Jobs’ life who were able to mesmerize him.

    While a sophomore, he was arrested for possession of 24,000 tablets of LSD worth $125,000.

    He was sentenced to two years at a federal prison in Virgina.

    Friedland taught Steve the reality distortion field. He was charismatic and could bend situations to his very strong will.

    ‘Robert always portrayed himself as a spiritual person, but he crossed the line from being charismatic to being a con man.’ Jobs said. ‘It was a strange thing to have one of the spiritual people in you’re your life turn out to be, symbolically and in reality, a gold miner.’”

  27. P.S. Pickens also spoke at TED this year. His talk just went live.

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