(Source: Business Wire)In his eleventh consecutive monthly update on the level of foreign oil imports in the U.S., energy expert T. Boone Pickens said that based on the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. imported 60 percent of its oil, or 350 million barrels in October 2009, sending approximately $26.5 billion, or $ 594,359 per minute, overseas to foreign governments.

"America's dependence on foreign oil continues unabated and uninterrupted" said Pickens. "Month after month the oil import trends continue and we have yet to truly do anything about it. But, there is a solution that uses a domestic resource to make a real difference. All that is needed is for our leaders in government to embrace natural gas and pass the NAT GAS Act. America is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. It's time for us to use this abundant resource to end the cycle of foreign oil dependency and addiction that is making us less safe and more economically insecure."

Pickens continued, "I've said many times that natural gas is the ideal bridge fuel for transportation. Smart use of our vast domestic natural gas resources can immediately reduce our dependence on foreign oil and buy us time to develop additional resources like fuel cells, batteries and hydrogen. With new drilling techniques and technology giving us access to the incredible reserve of natural gas contained in the shale fields, we have more than 100 years supply of natural gas."

The NAT GAS Act of 2009, H.R. 1835, was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 1. The Senate version of this bill, S. 1408, was introduced on July 8 as a bipartisan bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

Pickens continued, "With so many benefits to using our own natural gas, the NAT GAS Act is not just good public policy, it is critical public policy. Americans should call their government leaders today and tell them you want true energy reform that uses natural gas."

Since January 2009, the U.S. has imported more than 3.6 billion barrels of oil. A study released in June by the Potential Gas Committee, a group of academics and industry specialists supported by the Colorado School of Mines, estimates that we have more than 2,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, the only available source that could immediately replace foreign oil as a transportation fuel.

About the Pickens Plan

Unveiled on July 8, 2008 by T. Boone Pickens, the Pickens Plan is a detailed solution for ending the United States' growing dependence on foreign oil. Last year, when oil prices reached $140/barrel, America was spending about $700 billion for foreign oil, equaling the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. That figure has decreased some while oil prices have retreated, but the U.S. is still dependent on foreign nations for nearly 70 percent of its oil, representing a continuing national security and national economic threat. The plan calls for expanding the use of domestic renewable resources, such as wind and solar, in power generation and using our abundant supplies of natural gas as a transportation fuel, replacing more than one-third of our imported oil.

More than 1.6 million people have joined the Pickens Army through the website www.pickensplan.com, which has had over 17 million hits.For more information on the Pickens Plan please visit our website www.pickensplan.com.

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