Pickens sees $300 oil unless U.S. cuts import need

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Oil prices will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years if the United States fails to reduce its dependence on foreign imports, billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oil prices will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years if the United States fails to reduce its dependence on foreign imports, billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday.

The United States imports nearly 70 percent of its oil now and Pickens said the world's top energy consuming nation would import 80 percent in a decade if it does not aggressively tap its own natural gas and renewable resources.

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"If we continue to drift, oil will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years," Pickens said during testimony at a Senate hearing.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Marguerita Choy)