When Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm speaks, President Trump listens. How well he listens might be another matter.
But Hamm’s latest comments concern his call for a “get tough” approach with Venezuela, according to Bloomberg News. Stop shipments of Venezuela oil into the U.S.
“If the president wants to make an immediate impact on Venezuela to stop these human rights abuses and restore the situation, he’s got the ability,” said Hamm in an interview with the news service.
The head and founder of Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources is also head of the Domestic Energy Producers alliance as well as an energy adviser to President Trump.
However as he advocates hitting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro where it counts, it’s a move that would also hurt U.S. refiners that depend on Venezuela’s oil supplies. After all, Venezuela is the third biggest supplier of oil imports to the U.S. and Hamm says it’s time to block such imports and hit Maduro in the wallet.
Hamm also has told the White House the U.S. should cut off Venezuela’s access to light sweet U.S. oil which is blended with the heavy crude before being shipped to foreign refiners. That move could theoretically hit Continental Resources, a big player in the Bakken formation, not to mention Oklahoma’s STACK play.