Texas Oil Buffoon Pumping 8,000 Barrels Of Oil Into Ground Every Day

ODESSA, TX—As the rose-colored sunrise streaks across the Texas plains, he pulls his tailored pants over the top of his size-17 lily-white snakeskin boots, and pours hot water into his 10-gallon hat to brew another cup of coffee.
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Banks in front of the drills he paid millions of dollars to have reverse-fitted.

"I'd hate to burn my eyes again," he says, "but a man's got to have his caffeine."

Known far and wide as "the biggest oil buffoon in Texas," T. Ludlow Banks earned his unmatched reputation by doing things his way. He pioneered the practice of cutting in as many middlemen as possible. At a time when others were reducing costs, he put employee comfort first, issuing free cigarettes and Zippo lighters to every person working at his refineries, drilling platforms, and filling stations. And, in his most unorthodox move to date, he imported custom-built Italian machinery to pump more than 8,000 barrels of high-grade oil right back into the ground each day.
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