Harold Hamm called the White House for help. Oklahoma oil tycoon, Donald Trump funder and unofficial adviser to the President of the United States on energy affairs, lost $ 2 billion (about $ 1.8 billion) on Monday, March 9, due to the collapse of crude oil prices on the markets.
Continental Resources, the company it founded and in which it owns 75% of the capital, is now worth only $ 2.6 billion, up from $ 20 billion less than a year ago. And he needs help from Mr. Trump. "I don't want to tell the president what to do," said the 74-year-old entrepreneur to Washington Post. But he wants to address how the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia "Threatens the jobs, communities and economies of producing states across America, from Pennsylvania to California and from Texas to North Dakota".
The oil crash is a disaster for shale gas and oil producers in Oklahoma and the Permian Basin of Texas, which was decisive for the re-election of Donald Trump in November. He publicly welcomed the decline, which is "Good for consumers". In reality, it is a disaster for its Midwest oil fiefdoms.
Officially, of course, Republicans are not asking for a public bailout, as is Mike Sommers, head of the American Petroleum Institute, who represents the industry.
The usual tactic is to invoke national security and denounce the manipulations of the Russians to call for help, as did Anne Bradbury, director general of the American Exploration and Production Council, which represents twenty-five independent oil producers: "We need healthy regulations and policies that allow independent American producers to remain the world leaders in energy development to ensure that our country retains the energy independence that we have sought for decades. "
Abundance of supply, crisis of demand
The questioning of Russia comes as the price war launched by Riyadh and Moscow explicitly targets American producers of shale oil, which enabled the United States to rise in 2018 to the rank of the world's largest producer of gross.
Regardless of world prices, Uncle Sam had become the spoiler for the black gold market. Since 2017, the more American production has grown, the more the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia have had to impose quotas in order to avoid a collapse in prices.
