Legendary

Thomas Myers “Tom” Hunt, who went to work for his uncle, the legendary wildcatter H.L. Hunt, before World War II and eventually chaired privately held Hunt Petroleum, died Tuesday in Dallas at the age of 85. Tom Hunt was working in the oilfields in the 1930s and was said to have impressed his uncle, who hired him as an adviser. The younger Hunt eventually rose to manage all of the family’s operations, and he negotiated some of the oil company’s most important transactions. Earlier this year he negotiated the company’s acquisition by XTO Energy Corp. for nearly $4.2 billion (see Daily GPI, June 11). A life-long bachelor, Hunt was said to avoid publicity, and he preferred answering his own phone, associates said.

Legendary Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt, 83, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison after pleading guilty in October to paying illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s energy regime in exchange for oil contracts in 2001 (see NGI, Oct. 8). Wyatt had faced up to 24 months in prison. Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued the sentence. Wyatt had earlier agreed to forfeit $11 million as part of his plea agreement. Wyatt pleaded guilty in October four weeks into a criminal trial and shortly before prosecutors were to complete their case. Wyatt, who founded Coastal Corp., which later merged with El Paso Corp. (see NGI, May 8, 2000),was indicted in late 2005 with five other individuals. He had faced up to 70 years in prison if he had been convicted on all five counts of his indictment. Wyatt had also been charged with conducting financial transactions with Iraq, which was an enemy nation in 2001, and for violating a U.S. embargo with Iraq.

Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., almost as well known for his legendary oil and natural gas prowess as his cantankerous personality, pleaded guilty Monday in a New York City courtroom to paying illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s enemy regime in exchange for oil contracts in 2001. The 83-year-old Houstonian faces up to 24 months in prison.

Legendary Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt, 83, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty in October to paying illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s energy regime in exchange for oil contracts in 2001 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 2). Wyatt had faced up to 24 months in prison.

Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., almost as well known for his legendary oil and natural gas prowess as his cantankerous personality, faces up to 24 months in prison after he pleaded guilty last week in a New York City courtroom to paying illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in exchange for oil contracts in 2001.

Four years after selling Anderson Exploration Ltd. to Devon Energy for $4.6 billion, legendary Canadian oilman J.C. Anderson on Tuesday launched a bid to acquire Aquest Energy Ltd. in an all-share transaction.