- Oscar Wyatt
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Oscar Sherman Wyatt, Jr. (born 1924) is an American businessman. He was the founder of Coastal Corporation. In 2007 he pled guilty in a U.S. federal court to illegally sending payments to Iraq under the Oil for Food program.[1]
Contents
Early history
Wyatt was born in 1924 in Beaumont, Texas and grew up in Navasota, Texas. He worked on farms and at a gas station before earning his pilot's license at age 16 to work as a crop duster. Wyatt later attended Texas A & M University but left in 1942 to enlist in the Army Air Corps. As a combat aviator, Wyatt was a decorated WWII pilot by age 21. After the war, he returned to Texas A & M and earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering. .[2]
Early business history
Wyatt entered the refining industry in the early 1960s. And he began to attend Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meetings in Vienna, Austria. The U.S. refineries were optimized for high sulfur ("sour") crude oil, so Wyatt began to buy Iraqi oil in 1972.[3]
Later business history
Wyatt retired as Coastal's chairman in 1997 yet continued to serve as Executive Committee chairman until Coastal's sale to the El Paso Natural Gas Company in January 2001. In July 2001, Wyatt created a new company - the NuCoastal Corporation - to explore energy opportunities available across the globe. Today, Wyatt continues to consult with other petroleum related interests to help them improve their processes and procedures, and maximize their pipeline and refinery operations, resulting in better returns for common shareholders.[4]
Incarceration
In October 2007 Wyatt plead guilty to conspiring to, under the Oil for Food program, make illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Wyatt received a one year prison sentence, and was sentenced to serve in the minimum security camp of the Federal Correctional Complex, in Beaumont, Texas.
Personal life
Wyatt has been married to socialite Lynn Wyatt since 1963 and has four children. Wyatt and his wife reside in the Houston neighborhood of River Oaks.
References
- ^ Fowler, Tom. "Wyatt begins 1-year prison term." Houston Chronicle. January 2, 2008. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
- ^ Texas oil tycoon Wyatt in legal fight of his life | Reuters
- ^ Lynch, David J. "Prison term could cap oil trader's legendary career." USA Today. August 22, 2010. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
- ^ Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr
External links
Categories:- Living people
- 1924 births
- American chief executives
- American energy industry businesspeople
- White-collar criminals
- Texas A&M University alumni
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