Oscar Wyatt
Encyclopedia
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.
, Austria
. The U.S. refineries were optimized for high sulfur ("sour") crude oil, so Wyatt began to buy Iraqi oil in 1972.
'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.
since 1963 and has four children. Wyatt and his wife reside in the Houston neighborhood of River Oaks.
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. .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 ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The U.S. refineries were optimized for high sulfur ("sour") crude oil, so Wyatt began to buy Iraqi oil in 1972.
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.Incarceration
In October 2007 Wyatt plead guilty to conspiring to, under the Oil for Food program, make illegal payments to Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. 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 WyattLynn Wyatt
Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt is the daughter of the late Bernard Sakowitz and Ann Baum as well as the sister of Robert T. Sakowitz. She is a well known Houston socialite, philanthropist and third-generation Texan. Her grandfather started the Sakowitz Department Store chain...
since 1963 and has four children. Wyatt and his wife reside in the Houston neighborhood of River Oaks.
External links
- Alan Feuer, "Texas Tycoon, Prosecuted for Iraq Dealings, Says He’s a Target", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Sept. 6, 2007