For those of you who follow alternative energy or follow marketpundits, this is T. Boone Pickens’ natural gas for auto vehiclesstock.  Pelosi clean energy desires make this an interesting play, andit makes one wonder if more legislation along the lines of the Picken Plan is going to really come down the pipe.

Cramer believes this is as big of a ringing endorsement of the highestsort, but because it is thin volume he wants you waiting five daysbefore pulling the trigger.

This was recently downgraded by Broadpoint, and Pickens recently talked it up ahead of his traveling around to discuss the Pickens Plan.  Shares were flat today, but after the Cramer tout this stock traded up 7% to $15.25 in after-hours trading.

Jon C. Ogg
August 25, 2008

Pickens calls this non-partisan in both meetings and stressed that the Pickens movement hopes to get legislation passed in the first 100 days of the next administration.

As far as the Obama meeting Pickens stated (among other things): "Ishared my feeling of encouragement at the Senator’s willingness tospeak out on energy issues recently in the campaign, but told him thatthere is still much more that needs to be done……. It would beinappropriate for me to speak for Senator Obama. I have a real sense,however, that he was very engaged. He understands the issues and isinterested and excited by the work we are doing to educate and involvethe people of this great nation."  FULL COMMENTS

As far as the McCain meeting Pickens stated (among other things):"While I can not speak for the Senator, my sense is that he wasinterested and encouraged by the work we are doing and recognizes thatcitizen education and citizen involvement is key to changing course andactually developing a real energy policy with teeth that will help thiscountry from our current disastrous path.”  FULL COMMENTS

What we don’t get a sense of is what questions were asked by each candidate, what their own plans are that may change as a result of the meetings, and more.  It sounds more like these are just mere reports that meetings came and went, and so far neither candidate has anything that new to add as a result of the meeting.  That is likely to be expected, and most candidate points are very general in nature anyhow.

There are many who are poking holes in the Pickens Plan, although froman industry watcher’s eyes and from an American’s eyes it is at least astart.  Pickens is already vastly wealthy, he’s 80, and he is passingdown much of his estate to charity.  Yes he will ultimately make moneyfrom some of these initiatives.  On some he won’t.

For that matter, we outlined how he may have lost as much as $2 Billionin the last large downdraft for oil.  His plan has critics but also hasmuch common sense.  But his hedge fund clients might not exactly be allthat happy about the returns they have made over the last 45 days whilePickens has been promoting the plan.  The good news is that investorshave made vast fortunes betting with him.  The bad news is thatinvestors have very short term memory and very few tolerate lossesgoing on and on.

Jon C. Ogg
August 18, 2008

Of course his Clean Energy (NASDAQ: CLNE) is a solution to use natural gas to be converted to fuel for autos. He noted that most cars could be retrofitted to run on LNG for roughly $2,000.00.  Other stocks he’s mentioned he likes before today in oil & gas were EP, SD, XCO.

His biggest plan calls for much more added wind farm capabilities than anything, and this is where the media is focusing much of its efforts on the Pickens plan today.

He is also calling for more nuclear power plants, although he does note that the solution to build many new plants on a cost effective basis doesn’t get us all the way there on its own.  USEC Inc. (USU) is the U.S. play there.

Others mentioned were hydro and solar, and he’s still pro-ethanol because it is at least a domestic solution.  Ethanol stocks: AVR, VSE, PEIX.

This can take out 38% of the oil imported in the U.S. over a ten year period.

Pickens has also said he’d like to have a 3-way meeting with McCain and Obama.

Here were his comments calling for $150 oil before today.

You can see the full plan at PickensPlan.org.

Jon C. Ogg
July 8, 2008

On last look we saw oil up $3.32 at $99.30 per barrel and that was on the real market. We are over $99.00 and the mystical $100 oil is a mere difference in semantics at this point.  In fact, we’d now expect that oil could see a real $100 trade this week because the traders are more in control of oil prices than the fundamentals.

We’ve already got T. Boone Pickens maintaining $100 oil and he’s been right the entire run up so far.  Ken Heebner is also sticking with his oil names.  Oil has a large geopolitical risk premium assigned to it.  The exact amount is unknown.  Some feel the premium is $10 per barrel, and others have a $30 suggested premium.  We won’t even try to claim the answer if oracles like T. Boone Pickens can’t put an exact price on it. 

But what we do know for sure is that the Gulf of Mexico has largely escaped any real damage for the last two years from hurricane season.  We have had no steady net oil delivery misses at terminals throughout the Middle East, and depending on who you talk to the argument is that Iraq is close to being back on-line as a decent producer.  Russia and others are becoming more prominent players and there is enough oil from the Canadian oil sands that is much more than feasible at levels anywhere remotely close to today’s prices.

Imagine if Pakistan was a key oil player.  Imagine if Chavez in Venezuela could make more than a sting.  Imagine if we have an active hurricane season.  Imagine if our pipeline explosion seen last month was much larger.  Those geopolitical risks are there and we are up at $99+ with no significant supply issues.  A real oil trade at $100 is less than 1% away and at this point seems inevitable.

The Oil Services HOLDR’s (AMEX: OIH) are up over 1% at $191.20, yet the highs there over the last year are $204.62.  The more liquid Energy Select Sector SPDR (AMEX; XLE) are up marginally by 0.3% at $79.65, and the highs there over the last year are $80.60.

How much higher oil goes is anyone’s guess.  The case for much lower oil is a recession, so maybe high oil prices aren’t all that bad.

Jon C. Ogg
January 2, 2008