In an interview with Private Wealth, Pickens disputed the hazards of fracking, claiming to have "fracked" thousands of wells himself without incident. "The first fracking goes back to Texas in 1947," he said. "More than 800,000 wells have been fracked."
It's not, he says, a problem. And the areas such as upstate New York where fracking has become a hot environmental issue don't represent enough natural gas to warrant discussion. "Just stop doing it then," he said.
When asked whether he still believed water would be the next oil, he backs off that assessment, which he made several years back when he was petitioning for land rights in Texas.
For Pickens, it's all about natural gas and pushing through the Natural Gas Act, which would provide tax incentives worth as much as $5 billion to convert long-haul trucks from combustion engines to operate on natural gas.
As it stands, most 18-wheelers run on diesel, which is made from oil. Context for sure for Pickens' prediction of higher crude prices to come.