American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2023 - 44

into productive agricultural land from desalinized
ocean water.
On the other hand, news photos of
protestors lying on the ground outside
the LNG2023 Conference in Vancouver
in mid-July, and carrying " LNG kills "
signs are examples of what Hamm dubs
EQ. " LNG is a lifesaver, " he insists. " It
is providing the basic energy and products
everyone depends on. "
He insists that Continental has always
been mindful of minimizing environmental
impacts and being a good member of the
communities in which it operates. " You
have to continue to set standards and keep
up with guiding principles that are best
for the environment, and we certainly do
that, " Hamm remarks. " We are also going
to work safely and bring our people home
at night. "
Getting His Start
Hamm was inspired to pursue a career
in oil and gas when he wrote a research
paper on the industry as a high school
student in Lexington, south of Oklahoma
City. In 1964, Hamm's first job after
graduation was driving for Johnny Greer
Tank Truck in Enid. Tasks included
cleaning the sludge out of the bottoms
of stock tanks.
Eventually, he opted for a job at the
Champlin Petroleum refinery at Enid but
soon missed the opportunity to see exploration
and production work up close.
In 1966, at 20, Hamm took advantage of
an opportunity to take over payments on
a truck.
Because he was under 21, the finance
company required a cosigner, and Charles
Potter, who had owned a truck stop where
Hamm had worked part time while in
high school, lent his signature. After
founding Shelly Dean Oil Company in
1967, the upstart company eventually
added drilling rigs and found conventional
success in Oklahoma, including the
Mossier Farms Field in Garfield County.
The company may have been the first
in Oklahoma to use large areas of computer
modeling to exploit the Ames Hole geological
feature in Major County. Ames
Hole includes an astrobleme, or large
crater thought to be formed by an asteroid
impact that filled up over time with organic
material. One early vertical well produced
200 barrels of oil an hour. The company
aggressively added to its position and the
project made national news.
In a move that seemed to foretell the
company's unconventional future, Shelly
44 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
Dean Oil also was an early adopter of
directional and horizontal drilling, reaching
beneath Oklahoma City, Enid and
other communities to access stranded
reserves without causing in-town surface
disturbances.
During the 1980s downturn, Hamm
and his company picked up properties
and assets from overleveraged producers
and service companies and kept growing.
In 1990, the company was renamed Continental
Resources. By 1995, Continental
was drilling horizontally in North Dakota
alongside Meridian Oil Co. in the newly
discovered Cedar Hills Field, the seventh-largest
onshore field in the lower
48 ranked by liquid proved reserves and
the first developed entirely through horizontal
drilling.
Continental drilled the first commercially
successful well in the North Dakota
Bakken to be both horizontally drilled
and completed with hydraulic fracturing
in 2004. Today, it continues to apply the
operational expertise and techniques
gleaned over 57 years in the Williston,
Powder River Basin, SCOOP/STACK
and Permian Basin.
Giving Back
With all his success, Hamm insists it's
personally important to him to give back,
especially to Oklahoma and its people.
Through the Oklahoma University
Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center in
Oklahoma City, Hamm hopes to inspire
young, bright scientists to find a cure for
a disease, which he says is considered
the largest impending health crisis of the
next generation.
Through gifts to create the Harold
Hamm School of Geology & Geological
Engineering at the University of North
Dakota, Hamm says he wants to inspire
the next generation of oil and gas leaders
to continue the American energy renaissance,
create millions of American jobs,
lower consumer prices, generate billions
in tax revenue and ensure national energy
independence.
A $50 million gift, half from the
Hamm Foundation and half from Continental
Resources, funded creation of the
Hamm Institute for American Energy in
Oklahoma City, affiliated with the Oklahoma
State University. The institute's
mission, inspired partly by Oklahoma's
historical oil and gas contributions, is to
promote all forms of energy for security,
innovation, and economic and social
progress, according to Hamm.
While Continental's contribution to
U.S. energy independence and it philanthropic
giving are changing lives, Hamm
pays tribute to other Oklahomans who
have played a major role in the emergence
of unconventional oil and gas, namely
Larry Nichols, co-founder at Devon Energy
just down the street from Continental Oil
Tower. He credits Devon with being instrumental
in leading the charge into the
unconventional resources frontier by
paving the way in the Barnett Shale after
the company acquired Mitchell Energy
in 2001.
Hamm counts among his most meaningful
experiences and contributions as
unlocking the Bakken, working to get
the crude oil export ban lifted so U.S.
crude can be shipped overseas, and helping
create a new market for crude oil: ICE
Midland WTI American Gulf Coast futures,
or HOU.
Despite all his professional accomplishments,
Hamm says his family is his
proudest legacy. " I am very proud of my
family, " he states. " They are great people,
and I am proud of the part we-as a family-played
in the energy renaissance
and helping bring it about. "
Changing The World
Hamm encourages young people to
seriously consider oil and gas careers,
especially with jobs in the business becoming
more high tech every day. " They
need to change their mindsets about
seeing this as 'roughneck industry' because
today it is so high tech, " Hamm says.
" When you come to one of our drilling
locations, the control room and operations
look like NASA. "
The next generation, like those who
came before them, should stick to their
commitments and be persistent in their
pursuits for the good of their enterprises
and the country, he insists. Hamm, who
grew up in a family of 13 kids, accepted
an invitation to speak to Lexington
High School graduates in 2021. He
says he told the seniors to find a passion
in life and embrace the fact that learning
never ends.
" You never know when the next
barefoot country boy coming from a
place like Lexington may have an idea
that changes the world, " Hamm concludes.
" It's important to try to inspire
them, to think about what they are
dreaming about, and what they could
do and how it could be very important
to the entire world. "
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2023

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