Legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens is giving his predictions on oil prices and speaking candidly about his own losses in the market.
Oil closed at less than $27 a barrel Wednesday, in its deepest downturn since the 1990s.
While many drivers enjoy cheap gas prices, there is pain in Texas in the form of job loss. More than 50,000 Texans have lost energy jobs and the price of oil hasn't started to climb yet.
Pickens, known for making and losing fortunes betting on oil, said the last six months have been painful.
"Well, you always think the one you're in is the worst, because that's when you're feeling the pain," Pickens said.
Pickens is optimistic that oil will make a big comeback in 2016, but he admits to pulling his personal funds out of energy positions for now.
"We have been in and out. We are up a little this year. We took big losses last year. I personally am out of the market right now. When I said that, I meant myself," he said.
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That said, Pickens predicts oil will double by the end of 2016. He's even more bullish when looking 18 months ahead.
"I am bullish on it (oil) because of the fundamentals. But I thought I knew the fundamentals last year and I counted on oil declining faster than it declined," he said.
Pickens said the real danger for producing states like Texas is that oil prices stay low.
"I think oil has bottomed and we are headed up from here," he said.
Many companies have gone bankrupt as a result of the oil downturn. Asked if he thought we would see more layoffs and oil and gas companies going bankrupt, Pickens said, "Well, tell me how long we are going to stay down here at $30 oil and I can tell you."
"If you're six months from now at $30 oil, yeah, you're going to keep having more pain," he added.
The bright side, Pickens said, is Texas is no longer solely dependent on the oil industry to keep its economy healthy.
"We are also seeing that the oil industry may not have as much impact on the state as we thought it did. The state is still doing pretty good," he said.
At 87 years old, Pickens said he is once again waiting to get back in the oil game.
"I don't think the Lord said this life is going to be perfect. It isn't perfect. Balance it, I couldn't ask for anything better," Pickens said.
