Latest news with #HaroldHamm
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hamm: Continental Won't Rule Out a Merger, But Don't Count on it
FORT WORTH, TEXAS—Continental Resources Founder Harold Hamm was noncommittal when asked about a potential merger. 'I wouldn't rule it out,' he said. But Continental—that is, the Hamm family—would have to retain controlling interest in a post-merged E&P, he added in an 'ask me anything' session May 14 with attendees at Hart Energy's SUPER DUG 2025 Conference and Expo. In deal-making, privately held Continental has in the past only acquired property, and for cash, rather than whole-company deals in its more than 55-year history. Hamm, who is executive chairman, and his family hold 100% of shares. 'We liked being private. We liked being in a controlling position that we're in as a family,' he said. 'We basically always had control even when we were public.' In 2007, to fund wildcatting in what would become a new play—the Bakken in North Dakota—Hamm sold 15% interest in Continental in an IPO, raising $310 million. In 2022, he bought the shares back for $4.3 billion, taking Continental private again. On stage at SUPER DUG, Hamm was asked if Continental would be interested in buying BP Plc, which is rumored to be for sale. Hamm laughed, 'I don't know if I could outbid Shell or not.' Instead, Hamm would be interested in any properties shed after a BP merger with another E&P. In particular, BP's Lower 48 onshore E&P unit, BPX, holds operated acreage in the Permian Basin, Haynesville Shale gas play and the condensate-rich window of the Eagle Ford Shale. 'A lot of times, when these acquisitions and mergers are made by big companies, they'll find themselves in a debt-limit situation and need to sell off different properties and make deals,' Hamm said. 'It becomes a pretty fertile market for making deals with those companies. That's really what feeds so many of our independents here—what falls off as non-core from those major companies or large companies that make those deals.' Hess Corp., a Continental neighbor in the Williston Basin, is merging with Chevron Corp. Would Continental want to buy the Bakken property if carved out of Chevron post-closing? 'Sure,' Hamm said. 'We've not seen anything in the Bakken that we didn't look at real closely. And we're familiar with those [Hess] assets. They have a lot of midstream stuff. We've had midstream companies before. It complicates it a little bit, but it's still something that we'd look at.' Continental has plenty of inventory left to drill in North Dakota, though, he said. But 'we're drilling it up and you always need to add inventory, so we continue to look. The Bakken has been very good. It's been fantastic. We can't say enough about it. 'A lot of people have written it off four or five times, but it just doesn't go away. We still find out every day new stuff that works really well.' An attendee also asked if Continental is interested in Diamondback Energy's southern Delaware Basin acreage. Hamm paused, then smiled. 'Sure. Okay.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
22-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Will 'Drill, Baby, Drill' Work for the US Economy?
Bloomberg's Alix Steel talks to oil producers and policymakers at CERA week. Saad Rahim of Trafigura and Harold Hamm of Continental Resources tell us why an industry that wanted to pump more oil into the market is now having second thoughts. (Source: Bloomberg)
