# OKCpedia > Businesses & Employers >  Continental Resources Business Practices

## dmoor82

World Headquarters now in OKC,Harold Hamm CEO of Continental Resources say's he expects his company to triple in size within Five years,Article say's CR may be Devon's size within Five years barring a drop in barrel prices!Looks like OKC might have another giant Oil/Nat gas company in it's downtown!http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherh...rtner=yahootix

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## CaptDave

:Congrats: 

The next few years are shaping up to be very good ones for OKC. I am sorry for Enid's loss of Continental but glad they remained in state.

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## UnFrSaKn

Here's to hoping they outgrow Mid-America Tower in five years and we get a new skyscraper.

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## Maynard

Seems fitting that CLR should have its own thread, too.

ContinentalRes Oklahoma 1Q EPS 38c >CLR       05/02 

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North Dakota Bakken Daily Production Increases 107 Percent

EBITDAX Increases 69 Percent to $454.5 Million in First Quarter of 2012

Company Expects 2012 Production Growth of 47 Percent to 50 Percent on Increased

Capital Expenditures 

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/--Continental Resources, Inc. reported production of 85,526 Boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day) for the first quarter of 2012, a 66 percent increase over production of 51, 663 Boepd for the first quarter of 2011.


The Company's first quarter 2012 production of 85,526 Boepd was 14 percent higher than production of 75,219 Boepd for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Continental entered May 2012 with production in excess of 91,000 Boepd, benefiting from strong well results throughout the Bakken and Anadarko Woodford of Oklahoma.

"Along with good well performance, the two factors driving our results are faster drilling cycle times and our increased working interest ownership in Bakken wells," said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

He noted the Company has reduced spud-to-spud drilling cycle times for Bakken wells by approximately 30 percent in the last six months.

Additionally, by acquiring almost 46,000 net acres in targeted areas of the North Dakota Bakken since mid-2011, the Company increased its average net working interest in both operated and non-operated wells. "Through successful acquisitions, we increased and concentrated our ownership in the play," Mr. Hamm said. "This acquired acreage is in prime areas where we have significant operating history."

With higher average working interest has come an increased need for additional development and capital investment. "Faster cycle times and increased ownership are enabling us to accelerate development of our acreage without adding rigs," he said.

Continental experienced strong year-over-year production growth across its three principal operating areas, the Bakken, Anadarko Woodford, and the Red River Units of Montana, and North and South Dakota.

   -- Bakken production increased 88 percent to 48,024 Boepd in the first
      quarter of 2012, compared with 25,523 in the first quarter of 2011.

   -- Production in the North Dakota Bakken was 41,895 Boepd in the first
      quarter of 2012, a 107 percent increase over production of 20,238 in the
      first quarter of 2011. Montana Bakken production increased 16 percent to
      6,129 Boepd in the first quarter of 2012, compared with the first quarter
      of 2011.

   -- The Company's Anadarko Woodford production was 12,826 Boepd, nearly five
      times higher than production of 2,685 Boepd in the first quarter of 2011.

   -- Production in the Red River Units was 15,415 Boepd for the first quarter
      of 2012, a 10 percent increase over production of 14,066 Boepd for the
      first quarter of 2011.

Three acquisitions completed since mid-2011 had a minimal impact on first quarter 2012 production, after the effect of the Company's $84 million sale of its Worland, WY properties and associated production in early 2012. The net combined effect of the acquisitions and sale is an increase in production of approximately 800 Boepd going forward.

Continental currently has 35 operated drilling rigs, with 24 in the Bakken, 10 in the Anadarko Woodford, and one in the Red River Units. This compares with a peak of 44 operated rigs in the fourth quarter of 2011. "The biggest reduction has been in the Woodford, where we've reduced our operated rigs from 16 to 10," Mr. Hamm said.

EBITDAX of $454.5 million for the first quarter of 2012 was 69 percent higher than EBITDAX of $268.7 million for the first quarter of 2011. For the Company's definition and reconciliation of EBITDAX to net income, see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures -- EBITDAX" at the end of this press release.

After accounting for an unrealized mark-to-market loss on derivatives, Continental reported net income of $69.1 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2012. Net income included a $129.1 million pre-tax unrealized loss on mark-to-market derivative instruments, a $29.9 million pre- tax property impairment charge, and a $49.6 million pre-tax gain on sales of assets. Excluding the combined effects of the non-cash, unrealized derivatives loss, property impairment charge and gain on asset sales, Continental's net income would have been $0.76 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2012. For the reconciliation of this result to GAAP earnings per share, see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures -- Adjusted earnings per share" at the end of this press release.

For the first quarter of 2011, Continental reported a net loss of $137.2 million, or $0.80 per diluted share. Excluding the combined effects of a non- cash, unrealized derivatives loss, a property impairment charge, and a gain on sale of assets, the Company's net income would have been $0.53 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011. For the reconciliation of this result to GAAP earnings per share, see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures -- Adjusted earnings per share" at the end of this press release.

Increased 2012 Capital Expenditures and Growth Rate

Continental is increasing its 2012 capital expenditure budget to $2.3 billion, excluding acquisitions, to continue development of recently acquired acreage and to fund accelerated drilling due to faster cycle times. Resulting production growth from these expenditures is expected to range from 47 percent to 50 percent for the year.

The Company's previous 2012 capital expenditures budget was $1.75 billion, with 88 percent of the budget allocated to drilling. The budget envisioned the Company participating in completing 759 gross (249 net) wells in 2012. Company- operated wells represented 325 gross (214 net) wells in the initial 2012 plan.

Under the revised 2012 capital expenditures budget, Continental plans to participate in completing 842 gross (300 net) wells this year. Company-operated wells represent 342 gross (240 net) wells in the revised 2012 plan. Nearly all of the additional 2012 Company-operated wells are planned for the Bakken play.

Operating and Financial Results

Crude oil accounted for 70 percent of Continental's first quarter 2012 total production.

Crude oil and natural gas sales were $552.3 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared with $326.5 million for the same period of 2011.

Continental's average realized crude oil price was $90.58 per barrel in the first quarter of 2012, while the average realized natural gas price was $4.48 per Mcf, yielding a blended realized price of $71.39 per Boe. In the first quarter of 2011, the Company reported a blended realized price of $71.14 per Boe.

The Company's crude oil price differential was $12.27 per barrel and its natural gas price differential was a premium of $1.76 per Mcf for the first quarter of 2012, due to the high liquids content of the gas. A spike in oil price differentials at the Clearbrook, MN and Guernsey, WY markets negatively affected realized prices for March and April 2012, but differentials at these markets have since improved. Due to increased oil differentials and volatility at Clearbrook, MN and Guernsey, WY, the Company expects average differentials for the year will be in a range of $9 to $11 per barrel.

Production expense was $5.18 per Boe for the first quarter of 2012, down from $6.38 per Boe for the first quarter of 2011. General and administrative expense was $3.23 per Boe, compared with $3.56 per Boe for the first quarter of 2011.

Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2012 were $1.0 billion, including $345 million invested in lease and production acquisitions. The Company's Worland, WY property sale added back $84 million in proceeds.

As of March 31, 2012, the Company's balance sheet included $43 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.9 billion in total long-term debt. Total long-term debt at March 31, 2012 included $176 million in borrowings under Continental's revolving credit facility. Commitments under the facility are $1.25 billion, and its total borrowing base is $2.25 billion.

The Bakken

Bakken production of 48,024 Boepd accounted for 56 percent of total Continental production, compared with 49 percent of total production in the first quarter last year.

The Company participated in completing 103 gross wells in the Bakken in the first quarter of 2012.

In terms of Company-operated wells, Continental completed 54 gross (36 net) operated wells during the first quarter of 2012, with 47 gross (30 net) in North Dakota and 7 gross (6 net) in Montana. Initial one-day test production rates for Company-operated wells in North Dakota averaged approximately 947 Boepd.

The Company currently has 24 operated drilling rigs in the Bakken, with 21 in North Dakota and three in Montana. Four of Continental's operated rigs are drilling multi-well ECO-Pad(R) projects in North Dakota, and that total is expected to increase throughout the remainder of the year.

Continental completed three ECO-Pad projects in late December 2011, and consequently did not complete a multi-well project during the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. The ECO-Pad design involves drilling four wells on two adjoining 1,280-acre spacing units from a single drilling pad. This approach reduces well costs, as well as reducing the surface impact of each well.

In April 2012, the Company completed the Candee-Kukla ECO-Pad project, which was comprised of the Candee 2-9H and 3-9H (56% WI) wells and the Kukla 2-16H and 3-16H (56% WI) wells in Dunn County, ND. The four wells produced a total 5,913 Boepd in their initial one-day test periods, for an average of 1,478 Boepd per well. Continental expects to complete at least two more ECO-Pad projects by the end of the second quarter of 2012.

At March 31, 2012, Continental's acreage position in the Bakken totaled 938, 940 net acres, with 684,109 net acres leased in the North Dakota portion of the play and 254,831 net acres in the Montana Bakken.

The Woodford Play

Highlighting the Company's Anadarko Woodford operations in the first quarter was the completion of the Tom's 1-21XH (84% WI) in Blaine County in January 2012. The Tom's 1-21XH was the first multiple-unit spaced well drilled in Oklahoma, and its horizontal section was twice the length of previous Anadarko Woodford wells drilled in the play. The Tom's 1-21XH flowed 1,270 Boepd (76% oil) in its initial one-day test period.

Continental expects longer laterals in the Anadarko Woodford will have a significant, positive impact on well productivity and economics. It is currently completing its second multiple-unit well.

Overall, Continental participated in completing 21 gross wells in the Anadarko Woodford in the first quarter of 2012. In terms of operated wells, Continental completed 12 gross (9 net) wells in the quarter. Initial one-day test production rates for Company-operated wells in the Anadarko Woodford averaged approximately 728 Boepd.

Continental currently has eight operated rigs in the Southeast Cana section of the Anadarko Woodford and two in the Northwest Cana, all of which are focused on crude oil and liquids-rich areas.

In the Arkoma Woodford of Oklahoma, the Company's production was 3,637 Boepd in the first quarter of 2012, compared with 4,065 Boepd in the first quarter of 2011. Continental has suspended drilling in the Arkoma Woodford due to the low price for dry gas.

At March 31, 2012, the Company had 280,610 net acres leased in the Anadarko Woodford and 36,729 in the Arkoma Woodford.

The Red River Units

The Company's production in the Red River Units increased to 15,415 Boepd in the first quarter of 2012, a 10 percent increase over production of 14,066 Boepd in the first quarter of 2011. "Much of the improvement was in the Buffalo Units in South Dakota, where we've been increasing our injection volumes over the past year," Mr. Hamm said. "We're seeing excellent results in this enhanced oil recovery project."

Niobrara Play (Colorado and Wyoming)

In the Niobrara/DJ Basin, Continental completed the Buchner 1-2H (82% WI) in Weld County, CO, during the first quarter of 2012. The Buchner 1-2H produced 910 Boepd (90 percent oil) in its initial one-day test period.

As previously announced, the Company completed the Staudinger 1-31H (56% WI) in January 2012, which produced 739 Boepd in its initial one-day test production period.

"We're currently assessing results for our first nine Niobrara wells and preparing to initiate the second phase of our development program," Mr. Hamm said.

Continental had 92,842 net acres in the Niobrara/DJ Basin at March 31, 2012, with approximately 25,000 net acres in the identified oil fairway of the play.

First Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call

The Company plans to host a conference call on Thursday, May 3 at 10 a.m. ET to discuss its results for the quarter. Those wishing to listen to the conference call may do so via the Company's web site at www.CLR.com or by phone: 

Dial in:  888-679-8035
Pass code:  24687880

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## bluedogok

All that activity in North Dakota got my company a project, we are doing a complete new terminal complex for the Minot International Airport.

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## ou48A

That’s prosperity at work for you

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## Spartan

Minot has an international airport?

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## BoulderSooner

> Minot has an international airport?


no international flights .. but they have customs service on sight

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## adaniel

> All that activity in North Dakota got my company a project, we are doing a complete new terminal complex for the Minot International Airport.


Used to live there actually, from 1991-1993. Dad was in the air force so we were transferred there from Alaska. The place was COLD. It snowed every month at least once except for June, July, and August when I was there. The people were awesome though. I actually remember flying out of that airport and it seemed a lot bigger and busier than for what you would expect a town that size.

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## Oil Capital

> Minot has an international airport?


In the same sense that Tulsa and Des Moines have international airports and Oklahoma City has a "world" airport.

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## bluedogok

> Used to live there actually, from 1991-1993. Dad was in the air force so we were transferred there from Alaska. The place was COLD. It snowed every month at least once except for June, July, and August when I was there. The people were awesome though. I actually remember flying out of that airport and it seemed a lot bigger and busier than for what you would expect a town that size.


We got another Minot project a couple of weeks after the airport was approved, a new hanger at that base. It is actually a larger and more expensive project than the new airport terminal building.

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## sooner88

They announced their earnings yesterday and they were below the analysts estimate.  Their stock price dropped 15% ($91.82 to $77.75), this is a fairly significant drop considering CHK has dropped by roughly 20% throughout everything that has happened in the past month.

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## ou48A

IMHO This is a big deal for the companys involved and for our nation


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A researcher looking into whether theres more oil in North Dakota than is currently known didnt give a hint during a standing room only session Wednesday at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference.

In an industry that thrives on chatter, everybody was eager to hear the latest numbers. If the U.S. Geological Survey said its too soon to say, a production official with Continental Resources had no such compunction.

*Jack Stark, vice president of production for Continental, said his company now estimates there are between

27 billion and 45 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken and associated formations.

 Thats substantially more than it estimated two years ago and more than six times the amount the Geological Survey estimates.
*

Stark said the company upped its estimate when it discovered that three more layers below the Bakken and Three Forks also are productive.

He said the company has drilled nearly 700 wells into the formation in six years.

Stark said his company believes there are more than 900 billion barrels of oil in place, but only between 3 percent and 5 percent is actually recoverable with todays technology.

Continentals numbers are much more aggressive than the research compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey, which might have had top billing in the session lineup, but didnt provide the most sought-after information.

In 2008, the Geological Survey estimated there are 4 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken. Stephanie Gaswirth, a lead researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey, said it will be another 18 months before a new assessment of Three Forks and a reassessment of the Bakken formation is complete.

Gaswirth said the Three Forks was not assessed in 2008, though its clearly a production zone, and new data will provide a better understanding of the Bakken.

The new assessment started in October and involves looking at core samples, production data and geological information, she said.

She said whats known about the Three Forks so far is that its an unconventional zone, like the Bakken: Oil there is harder to extract and carries the same potential for holding a lot of oil.

Its possible it could be the same as the Bakken, lower or higher, she said.

State Geologist Ed Murphy said Continentals new estimate wasnt a shock.

He said his agency started learning a year ago that the Bakken formation is sending oil all down through the system.

I would certainly expect that number (Geological Surveys 4 billion barrels) to go up, but beyond that, we just dont know. We will be very interested when it comes out, Murphy said.

Stark said the company had almost a eureka moment when it looked at core samples of dolomite layers below the Bakken and Three Forks and realized the oil was deeper than expected.

Its amazing how widespread the saturation is, he said.

He said Continental Resources plans to drill into all the zones and continue to gather data.

Were in the very early stages regarding the Three Forks, about where we were with the Bakken in 2008. Were a long way from understanding it completely, he said.

Gaswirth said the Three Forks extends miles farther geographically than does the Bakken.

She said one question she hopes to be able to answer is how far the Three Forks produces beyond the boundary of the Bakken. To learn that, oil companies will have to tell her.

We dont drill, Gaswirth said.


Read more: http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/co...#ixzz1vtOoKOuw

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## Maynard

Accounting & Governance Risk Overview: Continental Resources, Inc.       06/04 10:10 AM

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Continental Resources, Inc. is currently rated as having Aggressive Accounting & Governance Risk (AGR), receiving an AGR score that places them in the 12th percentile among all companies in North America rated by GMI, indicating higher accounting and governance risk than 88% of the other companies.

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## ou48A

This is a great interview done on Thursday 09 Aug 12, with 
Continental Resources chairman CEO Harold Hamm.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000108103&play=1

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## Pete

From the Wall Street Journal:



Wildcatter Hunts His Next Gusher
9/21/12
By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN

OKLAHOMA CITYOn the national scene, wildcatter Harold Hamm has arrived. The rags-to-riches oil magnate now is one of Mitt Romney's top energy advisers and recently testified in Congress about energy independence.

But on Wall Street, Mr. Hamm's company, Continental Resources Inc., CLR -3.28% is facing questions about whether it can continue trouncing the competition.

Mr. Hamm is among the biggest winners of the continuing boom in U.S. oil-and-gas production. He and his five children own nearly $11 billion of shares of Continental Resources, the largest producer in North Dakota's oil-rich Bakken rock formation, up from about $2 billion just five years ago. Mr. Hamm's family collectively is wealthier than Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Schwarzman and the estate of Steve Jobs, based on the recent Forbes list.

But lately Continental, the nation's ninth-largest oil producer, is losing a bit of its luster.

The stock is down nearly 12% since a recent high on May 1, even as energy shares and the overall market rose about 4% in that period. Continental remains up around 20% on the year.

Continental shares are up 435% since going public in May 2007, outpacing all other energy companies. But its high valuation now has some investors wary. More fundamental factors also are weighing on shares, including rising drilling costs and mixed views on how successful Mr. Hamm's next big drilling venture will be.

According to FactSet Research, 45% of analysts polled have "buy" ratings on Continental, compared with 65% for other energy companies. Continental trades at 7.2 times 2013's expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, compared with 5.1 for the industry.

"People are nervous about Continental because it's a high-multiple stock," says Andrew Coleman, an analyst at Raymond James. He has an "outperform" rating on the stock, rather than a "buy," because he expects oil prices to fall over the next year, weighing on profits.

"Investors come out of our sector, then come running back in," said Mr. Hamm, a 66-year-old with auburn hair and a playful grin, in a recent interview at his downtown Oklahoma City offices, which feature cowskin chairs and a cowhide rug. "I look a long way ahead in the business, I want the big fields, the elephants," or huge new oil fields.

Mr. Hamm says he may have found one in a rock formation below the Bakken called the Three Forks, which he says could "redefine" the area.

If he's right, Mr. Hamm could potentially earn billions more. But if production falters, or if the global economy weakens and oil prices fall, Mr. Hamm may regret not selling the company after receiving various approaches in recent years. When oil prices fell 29% from late February through late June, Continental's stock tumbled 33.5%.

Some analysts and investors say the track record on drilling in what's considered "tight" rock formations, such as in the Three Forks, is relatively limited, making it hard to know how much will be extracted.

Some also worry about Continental's spending. Capital expenditures will hit $3 billion this year, according to the company, above its expectations of about $1.8 billion at the start of 2012. The average cost of a well there rose to $9.2 million from $8.5 million in the past year, according to Mr. Hamm, as labor, housing and other drilling expenses have risen in the region. Spending has grown as production has climbed, the company adds.

"Everyone's suffering cost creep. It got out of hand" as production has boomed in the area, Mr. Hamm says.

Mr. Hamm says he is responding by reining in drilling. Continental now operates 26 rigs in the country, down from 44 late last year. Analysts still expect Continental to see production rise as much as 59% this year, as existing wells become more efficient and continue to produce big supplies.

As for oil prices, Mr. Hamm says he doesn't expect a glut and predicts oil prices of $90 to $100 a barrel for the foreseeable future. On Friday, U.S. oil prices settled at $92.89 a barrel.

"The largest part of our growth story is ahead," Mr. Hamm says. More details on that front may be forthcoming: The company says on Oct. 9 it will unveil a five-year plan at an event for investors at its corporate headquarters.

The youngest of 13 children of poor sharecroppers in rural Oklahoma, Mr. Hamm was pumping gas and washing trucks at 17. He started an oil-services companypersonally scooping sediment from oil tanks with a long mopbefore turning to exploration. He endured 17 straight dry holes in the late 1980s.

After discovering signs of a huge oil find in North Dakota, Mr. Hamm took his company public in May 2007, an offering that received a lukewarm response from investors initially. Shares traded below their IPO price as recently as March 2009.

For years, the limelight was fixed on a fellow Oklahoman, Aubrey McClendon, co-founder of natural-gas giant Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK +0.21% But as natural-gas prices have tumbled, and the Bakken has proved a success, Continental has overtaken Chesapeake in market capitalization and Mr. Hamm's profile has grown.

A victory by Mr. Romney could give a new boost to Continental and Mr. Hamm, who has given nearly $1 million to a "super PAC" supporting Mr. Romney's campaign. The Republican candidate has defended retaining tax incentives for exploration companies and favors allowing states to regulate the controversial drilling technique called "fracking," used in the Bakken and elsewhere.

In 2011, Continental and other oil companies faced charges by the Justice Department for allegedly killing birds, in Continental's case a Say's Phoebe, in the Bakken. The charges later were dropped. Mr. Hamm says a Romney administration would be less likely to pursue these kinds of charges. A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Continental has been hurt because there isn't enough pipeline to deliver Bakken crude to its markets. That has kept oil prices below benchmark national levels.

Mr. Romney is expected to encourage new pipelines, which face resistance from some environmentalists. Mr. Hamm once supported a lobbying group that opposed the Keystone XL pipeline, but reversed his stance after the operator, TransCanada Corp., agreed to carry U.S. oil along with Canadian oil.

"It's not about us," Mr. Hamm says, explaining his active backing of the Republican. "Gov. Romney will encourage investment to build infrastructure we need as a nation."

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## ou48A

This is significant for CLR and for shareholders and for the state of Oklahoma.
Continental Resources unveils Oklahoma oil field | NewsOK.com
Continental Resources unveils Oklahoma oil field 
Continental Resources on Tuesday announced a new oil play in southern Oklahoma. Known as the SCOOP, the oil-rich shale rock is the source of some of the state's oldest oil fields, including those tapped by the Phillips, Noble, Hefner and Skelly families, Continental said Continental Resources Inc. on Tuesday unveiled its newest oil field in an area of southern Oklahoma that has produced some of the state's richest discoveries.

The South Central Oklahoma Oil Province, known at Continental as SCOOP, covers much of four counties in south central Oklahoma. The rock is an oil-rich portion of the Woodford Shale that lies beneath oil fields tapped by some of the state's biggest oil names, including Phillips, Noble, Hefner and Skelly.

*“It's a huge opportunity for the company and another great asset for us because we're looking at an asset with rates of return that compete head-to-head with what we're doing in the Bakken”* in North Dakota and Montana, said Jack Stark, Continental's senior vice president of exploration.

“With that as another opportunity that is widespread and repeatable, it gives us one more avenue of growth that has as much upside potential as we see in the Bakken.”

Continental made the announcement at its investor day presentation at the Cox Business Center in downtown Oklahoma City. The play includes parts of Carter, Stephens, Grady and Garvin counties.

The new field shares many similarities with Continental's biggest and best-known production area. Because of those similarities, the company already has an advantage in southern Oklahoma, Stark said.

“Technology transfer is a huge part of this business right now,” he said. “We're accessing what were once considered just source rock. To be able to do that takes technology.

“Anything we learn on one resource play can be transferred to the next play. There's always some adjustment here and there, but the bottom line is the technology we have perfected in the Bakken is directly transferrable to what we're doing here in the Woodford.”

At the end of 2010, Continental had 94,000 acres in the area with 3 percent held by production. Today, the company has more than 170,000 acres with 23 percent held by production, including 34 wells Continental has drilled in the area.

The new field drew praise from analysts and investors attending the presentation.

“I think the SCOOP will be interesting,” said Gail Nicholson, an analyst with KLR Group in Tampa, Fla. “I don't think the market has included that potential in the stock price. People think of Continental as the Bakken. Coming out and explaining the oil potential of the SCOOP will cause people to start to think about what's there. They have a good acreage position there. They're ahead of the game.”

While Continental executives touted the new field as an area of future potential, the Bakken will continue to be the company's primary focus, Stark said.

“We call the Bakken the king of the tight oil fields,” Stark said. “It is so large and just like other good fields, it keeps getting bigger. We think the Bakken should be used as a template or standard for oil field development.”

Continental is the largest producer, driller and leaseholder in the Bakken. The company produced 22.2 million barrels of oil over the past year, has 576 net wells in the region and has identified at least 4,000 potential wells.

The increased position in both the Bakken and in southern Oklahoma is expected to help the company continue to grow, CEO Harold Hamm said.

Hamm set a new goal of again tripling its production to 108 million barrels of oil equivalent and proved reserves to more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent by the end of 2017.

Analyst Andrew Coleman said he was pleased to hear that Continental will fund its increased drilling budget without taking on large amounts of debt.

“Continental is one of my favorite stocks,” said Coleman, an analyst with Raymond James in Houston. “The pushback I get from investors is that they are spending a lot of money. But anytime you can get the growth out of the market without stretching the balance sheet, it's the right approach.”

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## HangryHippo

Good for Continental.  I hope Oklahoma City, and all of Oklahoma, can reap the benefits of this.

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## ou48A

The good news is that unlike the Bakken there is already a good amount of existing supporting infrastructure in the area. 
But more will be needed.

Also, most people living in the area are already familiar with the industry and are very comfortable with operations. 
Many make their living in the energy industry.

At a minimum it will mean millions in state tax revenue. 
Millions for mineral rights owners and millions for many new high wage jobs. As long as oil prices don’t collapse this is prosperity.

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## ou48A

With all the new oil & natural gas production from various source passing through our state it would be wise for states leadership to push for the development of facility’s that added value to these resources.

We could add billions to our state’s economy and add thousands of new high wage jobs.
Right now we are really missing out on a gigantic opportunity.

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## HangryHippo

> With all the new oil & natural gas production from various source passing through our state it would be wise for states leadership to push for the development of facility’s that added value to these resources.
> 
> We could add billions to our state’s economy and add thousands of new high wage jobs.
> Right now we are really missing out on a gigantic opportunity.


What exactly do you think the state could do to capitalize on the opportunity you feel is being missed?  I'm not familiar with this industry and am not sure what we're missing.

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## ou48A

> What exactly do you think the state could do to capitalize on the opportunity you feel is being missed?  I'm not familiar with this industry and am not sure what we're missing.


Somebody with economic development experience would know better than myself about how the state could help. The state could offer special state incentives that would be negotiated.

Oklahoma is unique in that it has some of the world’s best concentration of large diameter raw crude oil pipelines.  As far as I can determine the products could be anything that’s made from raw crude or natural gas. Most of the oil is of good to high quality, making it cheaper and easier to process.

The Cushing hub offers cost advantages that others have difficulty matching and as crude production numbers increases in the mid-continent area these advantages should continue. Oklahoma’s economy rises and falls with the energy prices. By building products from raw crude oil and natural gas we add value to the product. But when oil and NG prices are low these products frequently become more profitable. We could help cushion the state from poor economic times caused by extremely low energy prices and at the same time add new high wage jobs.

We have good rail and road options along with barge options. However we would probably need more product pipeline capacity.

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## soonerguru

> Somebody with economic development experience would know better than myself about how the state could help. The state could offer special state incentives that would be negotiated.
> 
> Oklahoma is unique in that it has some of the world’s best concentration of large diameter raw crude oil pipelines.  As far as I can determine the products could be anything that’s made from raw crude or natural gas. Most of the oil is of good to high quality, making it cheaper and easier to process.
> 
> The Cushing hub offers cost advantages that others have difficulty matching and as crude production numbers increases in the mid-continent area these advantages should continue. Oklahoma’s economy rises and falls with the energy prices. By building products from raw crude oil and natural gas we add value to the product. But when oil and NG prices are low these products frequently become more profitable. We could help cushion the state from poor economic times caused by extremely low energy prices and at the same time add new high wage jobs.
> 
> We have good rail and road options along with barge options. However we would probably need more product pipeline capacity.


Doesn't Oklahoma already provide a huge tax break for drilling? I recall a few years ago George Kaiser spoke to the Legislature about removing it, saying it was unnecessary to encourage drilling.

The article doesn't mention where this discovery is. Do you know which three counties it is?

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## Bellaboo

> Doesn't Oklahoma already provide a huge tax break for drilling? I recall a few years ago George Kaiser spoke to the Legislature about removing it, saying it was unnecessary to encourage drilling.
> 
> *The article doesn't mention where this discovery is. Do you know which three counties it is*?


The map in the picture had the field from about the South Canadian River down to the Red River in Southwest central Oklahoma. I'd say that from  Chickasha to Duncan would be the center of activity.

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## onthestrip

Id be willing to bet CR will be building a new corporate tower in the next 5 years or so.

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## ou48A

> Doesn't Oklahoma already provide a huge tax break for drilling?


Drilling is a totally separate issue.

This would take us beyond drilling to more processing and refining activities and the products they produce.
With some of these products we could manufacture other value added products at cost competitive prices. 
This is already being done in Oklahoma but just not nearly enough IMHO.

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## Teo9969

If they keep progressing at the rate they are progressing, they'll be a Fortune 500 company before the decade turns.

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## ou48A

As you read this please remember CLR is the largest acreage holder in the Bakken.
This will do good things for CLR and OKC.
Is Bakken set to rival Ghawar? John Kemp | Reuters

 Fri Nov 9, 2012 11:48am EST 

(John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

By John Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) - Could oil production from the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana rival output from Saudi Arabia's supergiant Ghawar oilfield, the greatest oil-bearing structure the world has ever known?

Until recently, comparisons between the shale fields of the Bakken and Ghawar, which produces 5 million barrels per day, would have been dismissed as fanciful.

But Bakken's exponential growth and enormous reserves put it on course to produce more than 1 million barrels per day by the middle of next year, which will earn it a place in the small pantheon of truly elite oil fields.

Ghawar accounts for nearly half of Saudi Arabia's total declared capacity of 12.5 million barrels per day and has produced more than 65 billion barrels of oil since 1951.

Ghawar is one of only six super-giant oil fields that have produced more than 1 million barrels per day at their peak. Others are Burgan (Kuwait), Cantarell (Mexico), Daqing (China) and in the 1970s and 1980s Samotlor (Russia) and Kirkuk (Iraq).

Discovered in 1948, and just 174 miles long by no more than 31 miles wide, Ghawar is an extraordinary structure.

"It is unlikely that any new oilfield will ever rival the bounteous production Ghawar has delivered to Saudi Arabia and the international petroleum markets," energy expert Matthew Simmons explained in "Twilight in the Desert", his controversial 2005 book about Saudi Arabia's diminishing oil reserves.

No other super-giant has been discovered in the last 35 years (the last was Cantarell in 1976). Failure to find any more caused Simmons and other experts to worry world oil production was close to peaking in the late 2000s.

THE NEW SUPER-GIANT

But now Bakken has burst onto the scene. Output hit 631,000 barrels per day in August 2012, according to North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources, up from 256,000 barrels per day in August 2010 and just 83,000 barrels per day in August 2008.

Growth has been exponential (in the true sense of the word). Output has been increasing at a steady rate of about 65 percent a year since late 2009 and shows no sign of slowing (link.reuters.com/vys83t).

If growth continues at this pace for the next 12 months, and there is no reason to think it won't, production will top 1 million barrels a day by August 2013.

Some analysts will complain about the comparison. Ghawar is a conventional field: a single, well-defined accumulation of oil. In contrast, the Bakken is a collection of dozens of small fields in an unconventional "continuous-type" deposit without well defined boundaries.

But the two are not so very different in size. Ghawar covers about 2,000 square miles. The core of the Bakken is 15,000 square miles, according to Continental Resources, one of the pioneering exploration and production companies operating in the area. Rough comparisons are reasonable.

THREE FORKS FORMATION

Bakken is proving to be one of the most prolific oil-producing patches in the world. It continues to outstrip even the most optimistic forecasts.

At the moment the industry has completed just 5,000 wells in the Bakken at an average spacing of less than 1 well per 1,280-acre unit. But Continental estimates the core could support up to 52,000 wells with four to eight wells per 1,280-acre unit for full development.

Bakken contains about 577 billion barrels of oil and gas, of which about 24 billion barrels should be technically recoverable, according to Continental. But underneath Bakken in the same area is the Three Forks formation, which Continental believes could contain an even greater 900 billion barrels, of which perhaps 32 billion barrels might be technically recoverable.

Continental's estimates are probably colored by a developer's natural optimism. But the company has been the leading innovator in what has become North America's hottest oil play, and it has been proven consistently right.

More conservative estimates still show that the combined resources of the Bakken and Three Forks are enormous.

CONVENTIONAL VS CONTINUOUS

In a conventional oil or gas system, hydrocarbons are produced in a source rock and migrate through tiny pores or along fault lines before accumulating in a reservoir rock, from which they are produced.

The source rock must have a high proportion of organic material (typically at least 1-3 percent) to generate petroleum. It must be buried to the correct depth and temperature for the organic material to mature into oil (2000-5500 meters, 60-150 degrees centigrade) or gas (anything deeper than 5500 meters, and hotter than 150 degrees).

There must be sufficient cracks or porosity to allow the produced oil and gas to migrate from the source and accumulate in a reservoir rock. And the reservoir must be sealed by a cap to prevent the oil and gas migrating any further, allowing it to accumulate in sufficient concentrations to be extracted profitably.

Source, maturation, migration, reservoir and trap must all come together in exactly the right sequence. If any one of these elements is missing or occurs in the wrong sequence, oil and gas will not accumulate in a discrete pool.

Bakken, Three Forks and other shale plays are what the United States Geological Survey calls "continuous-type" resources.

In these deposits, the oil and gas is extracted direct from a source rock or a much more extensive reservoir rock nearby.

The Bakken, for example, consists of three layers, known as "members": the upper and lower shales (which are the source of the oil) and a middle sandstone layer (which is the reservoir). Drilling into the shales has been relatively unsuccessful. Most oil is being produced from wells drilled into the middle sandstone member.

BAKKEN CHANGES EVERYTHING

The conditions are less demanding for continuous-type resources than for conventional deposits, which is why shale deposits are distributed much more widely around the world.

The problem, until recently, was that oil and gas could not be extracted profitably from continuous-type resources. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have changed the situation, unlocking oil and gas from previously inaccessible tight rock formations with low porosity and poor flow rates.

Conventional super-giants such as Ghawar may never be discovered again, although exploration is pushing into new areas offshore and in the Arctic. But that may not matter if oil and gas can be wrung from more commonly occurring continuous deposits.

Bakken has a long way to go before production overtakes Ghawar. But the play has already defied most expectations that it will slow. *At the very least, Bakken will join the world's largest oil-producing zones next year. In the process, it has changed the oil industry forever.*

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## ou48A

This is pretty big news for Oklahoma and for CLR


COLUMN-Oklahoma gears up for next big shale play: John Kemp | Reuters
Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:44am EST 
By John Kemp

LONDON Nov 28 (Reuters) - Oklahoma could be on course to see the next big increase in oil and condensates production, following North Dakota and Texas, as innovative drilling companies move in to explore the liquids-rich sections of the Woodford shale under the western half of the state.

Oklahoma is a very old oil producer: the first oil was discovered in 1897, a decade before Oklahoma was admitted to the union.

In recent decades, however, the state's conventional fields have appeared exhausted. Production peaked as long ago as 1927 at 277 million barrels for the year. By 1980, output had fallen to 149 million barrels, sinking to just 58 million barrels in 2010, according to annual production records from the Oklahoma Commerce Commission (OCC).

In 2011, production jumped to 77 million barrels. But Oklahoma still accounted for just 3.8 percent of all oil produced in the United States. Production has been broadly flat at 175,000-200,000 barrels per day (bpd) since the start of the century. Meanwhile, fracking has lifted North Dakota's output from less than 100,000 bpd to more than 700,000 bpd over the same period.

Oklahoma has more than 32,000 oil wells. However, more than 30,000 of them are "stripper" wells producing less than 15 bpd that are marginally economic. Only 163 wells produced more than 100 barrels per day in 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the independent statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The state is better known as a natural gas producer. Oklahoma accounted for 8 percent of all U.S. gas output last year, ranking behind Texas and Louisiana. In fact, the state's 52,000 gas wells accounted for almost 30 percent of all the crude and condensate produced in the state in 2009.

But all that may be about to change.


WORLD-CLASS WOODFORD

The western half of Oklahoma lies on top of the Anadarko Basin, a huge sedimentary formation that has already yielded most of Oklahoma's conventional oil and gas.

Now attention is turning to the possibility of unlocking the basin's unconventional resources using the same horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques that have prized millions of barrels of oil and condensates from North Dakota's Bakken and Texas' Eagle Ford.

Specifically, drillers and frackers are now targeting the basin's Woodford shale layer. The Woodford shale is "one of the thickest, best quality resource shale reservoirs in the country," according to Continental Resources, the company which more than any other is associated with the development of the Bakken.

Woodford is up to 400 feet thick, according to Continental, with a rich organic content and which potentially contains enormous amounts of oil and gas in continuous-type unconventional formations.

In terms of area, Woodford (3,300 square miles) is smaller than either the Bakken (13,000 square miles) or Eagle Ford in Texas (5,000 square miles). But it is also much thicker (150-400 feet) than either Bakken (10-250 feet) or Eagle Ford (100-250 feet). The total organic content (6-12 percent) puts it somewhere between Bakken (5-20 percent) and Eagle Ford (3-7 percent).

Woodford contains 400 million barrels of oil that could be recovered, accorded to an estimate by the U.S. Geological Survey published in 2010, and another 250 million barrels of valuable condensates, as well as plenty of associated gas. Continental is even more bullish about potential ultimate recoveries.


FOCUSING ON THE SCOOP

Continental has featured the most prospective area of the Woodford shale, a section that it calls the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province, SCOOP, as one of its two favoured plays alongside the Bakken in recent presentations to investors, underlining its importance to the company.

Continental has been leasing oil and gas rights in the Woodford even faster than in the Bakken to exploit it. Between 2009 and October 2012, Continental increased its net acreage in the Anadarko-Woodford area by 113 percent from 149,000 to 316,000 acres, compared with a 51 percent rise in net Bakken acres from 645,000 to 915,000.

Because of the divergence between oil and gas prices, the company has focused on the oil-rich and condensate-rich parts of the shale ("fairways") in the east, which lie under Grady, McClain, Garvin, Stephens and Carter counties, rather than the gas-rich areas further to the west.

Continental claims wells in the oil fairway have yielded as much as 75-85 percent liquids (crude plus condensate) while liquids yields from the condensate fairway have been about 60 percent.

It has drilled or participated in 35 wells to date and plans to bring the same efficiencies that it pioneered in the Bakken, cutting drilling and fracking times and costs, to the new play.


THE SILENT REVOLUTION

The Woodford play remains in its infancy. The full scale of exploration and development work has been obscured because the state also produces significant amounts of conventional oil and gas. Both have been under pressure because of the plunge in gas prices to less than $4 per million British thermal units and the slide in prices for midcontinent U.S. oil.

Oklahoma oil prices are directly tied to the price of benchmark crudes delivered in-state at Cushing. Average Oklahoma oil prices fell from $102 in March to less than $75 in June, according to the Corporations Commission. The result has been a slowdown in conventional production from stripper wells, which has masked the increase in fracking.

Similarly, the number of drilling rigs active in the state, has remained at around 200, which is roughly similar to the number drilling back in 2008, at the height of the oil and gas boom. But that masks a huge shift from gas-directed to oil-directed drilling. In 2008, some 1,098 oil wells and 2,201 gas wells were completed. By 2011, the numbers were 1,573 and 876.

Other gas producing states, like Louisiana, have seen a sharp drop in the number of active rigs since 2008 as the gas industry responds to a sharp decline in prices. In Oklahoma, however, rigs have simply been shifted from gas to oil plays within the state, which has to some extent hidden the extent of the state's new oil revolution.

More rigs are now drilling in Oklahoma than in any other state apart from Texas. Only North Dakota is even close.

Continental Resources admits that it has kept the full potential of the play relatively quiet until recently while it has secured mineral leases. The company only began to discuss the full potential of the SCOOP/Woodford in its marketing materials in October.

The SCOOP/Woodford formation is even deeper underground than the Bakken and Eagle Ford shales, so wells will be expensive. But the high liquids content should ensure they have high rates of return.

Crucially the shale play is located in many of the same counties that have previously hosted conventional oil fields. The state already has plenty of oil and gas-gathering pipelines and infrastructure to support a fairly rapid increase in output. And the state government is enthusiastic about oil development.

Oklahoma's oil and gas business -- an increasingly complex mix of oil and gas, conventional and unconventional resources -- makes production and drilling statistics hard to interpret.

While the Woodford shale should boost oil drilling and output, the marginal nature of many stripper wells makes conventional output susceptible to any drop in oil prices, and oil output from gas wells will remain under pressure from low natural gas prices.

Nonetheless, the attractive characteristics of the Woodford shale should result in a significant expansion of oil output in the next five years as the play is developed.

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## ou48A

There is growing chatter about a possibility of a CLR buy out of KOG.

My gut feeling is that Hamm and CLR would know the value of KOG more than anyone else!

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## HangryHippo

As in Kodiak Oil and Gas?

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## Pete

Kodiak is currently in Denver and only has a small number of employees, as in less than 10 at their HQ.

Still, acquiring their assets would certainly help CLR continue to grow.

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## ou48A

KOG has a current market cap of 2.51Billion 
CLR’s current market cap is 14.86 Billion.

KOG has excellent Bakken acreage positions that have been getting generally great results in spite of the fact that they have been mostly drilling to hold their acreage positions and not drilling many of their so called sweat spots. 
According to some this makes KOG a likely take over target. If CLR doesn’t buy KOG, sooner or later someone will. They have significant future value to whoever buys them IMHO. Since I own KOG I am hoping for an old fashion bidding war but that would probably be asking way too much. LOL

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## ou48A

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1100...s?source=yahoo

 Determining A Reasonable Takeover Price For Kodiak Oil And Gas


 On Monday shares of Bakken oil producer Kodiak Oil and Gas (KOG) surged late in the day on some unusually heavy volume.

 The reason for the surge apparently is that the company cancelled an appearance from an upcoming conference suggesting that it may be taken out before the conference date.

 With shares at $9.40 I thought I'd have a look at what investors may be able to expect for a takeover price. The best comparable metric is the takeover of Bakken pure-player Brigham Exploration which occurred just over a year ago when it was acquired by Statoil (STO).

 So let's compare.

 Statoil paid $36.50 per share for Brigham Exploration. That equates to an enterprise value of $4.7 billion.
 Kodiak has an enterprise value as follows:
 Shares outstanding -- 263 million
 • Most recent closing stock price -- $9.40
 • Market Capitalization -- $2.472 billion
 Total debt outstanding -- $915 million
 • Enterprise Value -- $3.387 billion
 Price Per Flowing Barrel
 • Brigham Exploration was producing 21,000 boe/day. With a $4.7 billion enterprise valuation that equates to $223,000 per flowing barrel.
 • Kodiak's exit rate production figure is expected to be 27,000 boe/day. If Kodiak gets taken out at the same price per flowing barrel as Brigham that would be a share price of:
 • Calculate total price paid - $223,000 x 27,000 = $6 billion
 • Less Debt Outstanding - $915 million
 • Equals Proceeds For Shareholders - Roughly $5 billion
 • Divided By The Number of Shares Outstanding - 263 million
 • Price Per Share - $19.01


 Multiple of EBITA
 For the six months ended June 30, 2011 prior to its acquisition Brigham had an EBITA of $137 million. On an annual basis that would be roughly $280 million. That would be an EBITA multiple of $4.7 billion / $280 million = 16.79 times
 For the nine months ending Sep 30, 2012 Kodiak had EBITA of $220 million which annualized would be about $300 million. At Brigham's 16.79 takeover multiple Kodiak would be taken out at roughly $5 billion ($300 million x 16.79), which again is $19.01 per share.

 Multiple of Proved Reserves
 Brigham (as of the December 2010 reserve report) has 67 million barrels of proved reserves. A $4.7 billion valuation suggests Statoil is paying $4.7 billion / 67 million = $70 per barrel of proved reserves
 Kodiak (as of the June 2012 reserve report) has 70 million barrels of proved reserves. At Brigham's $70 per barrel multiple of proved reserves Kodiak would be taken out at….you guessed it roughly $5 billion ($70 per barrel x 70 million barrels.
 Again, this is $19 per share.


 Other Considerations
 The Brigham deal multiples clearly point to about $19 per share for Kodiak. There are of course other considerations such as the amount of acreage each company has, the quality of that acreage, and ability to finance future development.
 Because of that I don't think Kodiak would go for the same multiples as Brigham, but I think the mid-point between the current share price ($9.40) and the Brigham price ($19.00) might be realistic. That would be $13 to $14 per share which is still a good premium to the current share price.

 Now I guess we just wait and see if the takeover chatter amounts to something.

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## blangtang

Where are you hearing its CLR?  I poked around and only saw Exxon Mobil as the company mentioned.

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## ou48A

> Where are you hearing its CLR?  I poked around and only saw Exxon Mobil as the company mentioned.


It’s just chatter at this point, not close to be set in stone…. but it’s being talk about on the KOG Yahoo message board. KOG closed down .04 after being up most of the day. Could be a case of manipulation.

XOM has been talked about as another rumored buyer of KOG for several months.

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## ou48A

Very good report for CLR

Continental Resources Increases Proved Reserves 54 Percent To 785 MMBoe - Yahoo! Finance

OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR) increased its year-end 2012 proved reserves to 785 MMBoe (million barrels of oil equivalent), a year-over-year gain of 54 percent. With the 2012 increase, Continental has grown proved reserves at a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent since year-end 2009.
Continental's 2012 proved reserves had a net present value discounted at 10 percent (PV-10) of $13.3 billion, a 45 percent increase over the PV-10 of $9.2 billion for proved reserves at year-end 2011.

Proved reserves growth in 2012 primarily reflected strong production growth in the Bakken play of North Dakota and Montana, which Continental believes is the nation's premier oil play. Continental is the largest producer and leaseholder in the Bakken, with approximately 1.1 million net acres. The Company has also accelerated production growth in its South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP), an oil- and liquids-rich play in Oklahoma.

Thirty-nine percent of Continental's total 2012 proved reserves, or 309.0 MMBoe, were proved developed producing (PDP), compared with 40 percent of year-end 2011 proved reserves. 

Crude oil reserves represented 72 percent of 2012 total proved reserves, a significant increase over year-end 2011, when crude oil accounted for 64 percent of the Company's 508 MMBoe in proved reserves. The higher percentage of crude oil proved reserves in 2012 was accomplished despite two crude-oil concentrated divestitures.

Continental currently operates 85 percent of its total proved reserves, compared with 86 percent at year-end 2011.

"We continue to increase our concentration in high-value, high-growth, crude oil assets, especially in the Bakken," said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are growing the value of our Bakken assets through strategic acquisitions, exploration, and the expanded use of pad drilling, which should improve efficiencies and translate into even better rates of return."

Through acquisitions and leasing, Continental increased its Bakken leasehold by 24 percent in the past year, from 915,863 net acres at year-end 2011 to 1,139,799 net acres at year-end 2012.

The Company is also leveraging the increased demand for high-quality Bakken crude oil at U.S. refineries. "We have more than adequate pipe and rail capacity out of the basin at this time, so we can move our production to the most advantageous markets," Mr. Hamm said. "Realizing the Bakken's full potential is essential to our five-year plan to triple production and proved reserves by year-end 2017, while increasing operating margins."

Strong Production Growth
Continental's 2012 production totaled 35.7 MMBoe, a 58 percent increase over production of 22.6 MMBoe for 2011, in line with the Company's production growth guidance for 2012.

Estimated fourth quarter 2012 production was 9.8 MMBoe, or 106,831 Boe per day, a 42 percent increase over fourth quarter production for 2011. The Company deferred some fourth quarter well completions to stay within its capital expenditure budget for 2012. Fourth quarter 2012 was the 19th consecutive quarter in which Continental has increased production compared with the immediately previous quarter.

Based on continued production growth, as well as an acquisition and a divestiture announced December 20, 2012, Continental's current production is approximately 116,000 Boepd.

Increased Proved Reserves
Continental's 2012 proved reserves in the Bakken totaled 564 MMBoe, almost double proved reserves in the play at year-end 2011. The Company's Bakken proved reserves had a PV-10 of $9.9 billion at year-end 2012.

Other significant components of year-end 2012 proved reserves included the SCOOP play in Oklahoma, with proved reserves of 63 MMBoe (PV-10 of $955 million) and the Red River Units, where proved reserves increased in the past year to 78 MMBoe (PV-10 of $2.0 billion).

Exploration and development activity was the primary driver in the Company's 2012 proved reserves growth, adding 234 MMBoe of proved reserves in the year, of which 27 percent were PDP and the remainder PUDs (proved undeveloped reserves). In total, a reconciliation of 2012 proved reserves included:

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## ou48A

South Central Oklahoma Oil Province aka ?SCOOP? | Woodford

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## Dubya61

Couple of mentions of Continental Resources in this http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/ma...1&ref=business NY Times article about the boom in drilling in North Dakota's Bakken Formation.




> In the fall of 2011*in Crosby, N.D., Continental Resources, the oil company with the most acreage leased in the basin, erected a self-congratulatory granite monument celebrating its work in the so-called Bakken Formation, the Williston Basin rocks that, as Continental put it, ushered in “a new era in the American oil industry.” The number of rigs drilling new wells in North Dakota’s part of the basin reached a record 218 last May. It has now leveled off at around 200, as thousands of wells have been completed under deadline pressure to secure expiring mineral leases. Many thousands more will be spudded in the next two years as the boom moves from discovery to production and crews drill “infill” wells, complete pipelines, fortify roads, enlarge refineries and build natural-gas pumping stations and oil-loading train yards.





> But oil development, and fracking in particular, raises little of the hue and cry it does in Eastern states sitting above the natural gas in the Marcellus shale. Even a well-publicized investigation by the news Web site ProPublica that reported that there were more than “1,000 accidental releases of oil, drilling wastewater and other fluids” in North Dakota in 2011 passed without much fuss. 
> A more typical attitude is represented by Harold Hamm, chief executive of Continental Resources. “Why do [critics] always start talking about the challenges?” Hamm said in a speech he gave at Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck in May. “What challenges? Spending all the money?” Hamm, who is known as the Baron of the Bakken by virtue of having more than a million acres leased for drilling, led Mitt Romney’s energy committee, which proposed giving states control of oil leases on federal lands.

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## fromdust

The SCOOP, can't wait for the chance to frac it. I need some change in scenery. The Anadarko is soooo boring now, lol

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## ou48A

Nice read on CLR
Are You Looking for Production and Reserve Growth? (CLR, KOG)

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## ou48A

This is very good news for this OKC  based Co.


Bakken Producers Continental Resources And Whiting Petroleum Beat Q4 Expectations - Seeking Alpha

Bakken oil and gas producers Continental Resources (CLR) and Whiting Petroleum (WLL) announced Q4 and full-year 2012 earnings after the close on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2012. Both companies breezed past Street estimates. Highlighting WLL's results was its assertion that it is the No.1 oil producer in North Dakota.

CLR's Q4 earnings were $1.19 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $0.62 share for the prior-year quarter. This handily beat the average Thomson Reuters estimate of $0.87/share. 

Q4 revenue came in at $688.9 million and also beat expectations of $656.8 million.
Continental continued its run of outstanding production growth with Q4 production coming in at 106,831 boe/d -- a 42% increase from fourth-quarter 2011 production. Even better, CLR announced total production in February 2013 is on track to exceed 120,000 Boepd.

Significant new well results included:
Latest Bakken/Three Forks Second Bench well flows at 1,556 boe/d 
*New SCOOP well flows at 1,761 boe/d*

Rail Having a Significant Impact on Realized Prices
Chairman and CEO Harold Hamm commented on the results:
We completed 2012 with an excellent fourth quarter, and growth momentum continues in 2013. Production has increased, and realized oil prices have been strong as we market an increased share of our Bakken production to U.S. coastal markets. We've seen a fundamental change in oil markets with the significant increase in rail transportation capacity out of the Bakken. Improved differentials and lower operated well costs as we continue to drill and complete projects more efficiently point to continued strong cash flow in 2013.
Improved Oil Differentials: A Positive Catalyst Going Forward

CLR's oil differential was $3.21 per barrel for the fourth quarter 2012, a decrease of $6.24 from the third quarter of 2012. As a result of improved realized prices, Continental has reduced its 2013 NYMEX oil differential guidance range to $5 to $7 per barrel, compared with previous guidance of $8 to $11.

The narrowing of the differential makes a huge difference for CLR going forward. For example: If February production comes in at 120,000 boe/d, and the differential between Q4 was $3/barrel less than Q3, that is an extra $360,000/day of increased revenue, or $32.4 million on a quarterly basis. I would assume most of that would go straight to the bottom line.

These results capped of an excellent 2012 for CLR. For the full year, net diluted earnings per share were $4.07 -- up 69% over the $2.41 for FY 2011.

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## Pete

> Really curious to hear what their current employee count. Q3 of last year they were already up to 721.


Where did you get that number?

As per the Q4 report to the OKC Economic Development Trust, they had 400 employees.

Perhaps your number is for all of CLR and not just the ones downtown?

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## ou48A

Not to be discounted is the fact that companies like CLR typically have contractors working for them that employ hundreds of contract workers who supply CLR with goods and services. Well managed companies usually stay as lean as possible and often use contract workers who are employed by 3 party firms. These workers can be easily let go in the event of a downturn. Liabilities are also reduced.

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## ou48A

More on CLR from yesterday's conference call....

Conntinential Resources CC yesterday has revealed some very interesting & exciting information :

* *CLR believes that Bakken light sweet crude is going to set a "new benchmark" for light sweet crude & will soon trade at a premium compared to Brent crude*.

* *Bakken crude is the most ultra-low sulfur crude in the world* *& will be in big demand for refineries because it will help refineries stay in compliance with the EPA.*..and also in big demand as it easily refines to high demand fuel such as jet fuel & gasoline. Bakken light sweet came to market early enough so that most refineries didnt have to spend large amounts of money to change over to heavy crude refining..so they will demand bakken crude.

* CLR has discovered that the entire Bakken Petroleum System (all 5 pay zones) are all in the same pressure environment. A recent lower 3-forks bench well they brought on line had pressure of 3200 psi. So CLR believes that this is all one cell with similar pressure..hence, all strong oil recovery. 

* CLR says that @ 3.5% Bakken recovery, the system has 24 billion barrels to harvest. At 5% Bakken recovery, the system has 45 billion barrels to harvest, which they think is very achievable.

* CLR says that the area where the 3-forks formation is the thickest & may produce commercially from all 4 zones is 60 miles wide from east to west & 75 miles long from north to south.

* CLR's latest well from the 3rd bench 3~forks formation is on track to produce as much oil as their recent successful 2nd bench well.They have 7 lower bench 3~forks wells waiting on completion as we post & plan to drill 20 lower bench 3~forks wells in 2013. CLR said we should hear about results from the first well drilled in the 4th bench of the 3~forks formation in about 1 month.

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## ou48A

CLR and others have plans to drill some Bakken wells on tighter spacing. If this goes as hoped it would be huge news for these companies and for our nation’s energy future on a scale that few would have thought possible just a few short years ago.

Bakken: The Downspacing Bounty And Birth Of 'Array Fracking' - Seeking Alpha

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## s00nr1

CLR just hit an all-time high and now has a market cap of more than Chesapeake and Sandridge combined. Astounding growth.

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## Pete

> CLR just hit an all-time high and now has a market cap of more than Chesapeake and Sandridge combined. Astounding growth.


Wowee.

They seem to really have their act together.

And if you notice, Harold Hamm is now the richest person in Oklahoma while Aubrey is no longer on the billionaire list and Tom Ward has never made it.

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## icecold

> Wowee.
> 
> They seem to really have their act together.
> 
> And if you notice, Harold Hamm is now the richest person in Oklahoma while Aubrey is no longer on the billionaire list and Tom Ward has never made it.


Not true.  Tom Ward has made the list a handful of times.  I believe this was his high mark....

The 400 Richest Americans: #155 Tom Ward - Forbes.com

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## Pete

Thanks for the correction.

But the point being, neither he or Aubrey are on it now and their personal fortunes seem to be managed in the same way in which they've run their businesses.


Anyway, Harold Hamm seems to be a much more astute businessman and the results at CLR show that.

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## icecold

> Thanks for the correction.
> 
> But the point being, neither he or Aubrey are on it now and their personal fortunes seem to be managed in the same way in which they've run their businesses.
> 
> 
> Anyway, Harold Hamm seems to be a much more astute businessman and the results at CLR show that.


Agree.  Aubrey and Ward probably did everything they could to finagle their way onto the list.  While I am guessing someone like Nichols does everything he can to hide money in different trusts, etc to stay off the list.  (Not saying Nichols would be on the list, but just seems opposite of AM and TW (not earth changing news there)).

Hopefully Hamm and CLR will make more of an impact in the community as far as giving goes.

----------


## ou48A

> CLR just hit an all-time high and now has a market cap of more than Chesapeake and Sandridge combined. Astounding growth.


Actually just over a year ago CLR was just a little higher than it was yesterday or today.
CLR closed at 91.15, up $1.05 +1.17%.
Todays enter day high which is also a 52 week high was $91.89.


The news which is largely responsible for the recent CLR rise IMHO was posted on a link on post # 46 that I made. This news makes CLR more valuable. With Hamms age and possible heath issues this increases the odds of a possible buyout IMHO.
Unlike SD and CHK IMHO CLR is a well-managed company. I would think and certainly hope that this value would be recognized by another company. In the event of a buy out I would hope they would keep most of the work force in OCK for their talents?

----------


## ou48A

> Hopefully Hamm and CLR will make more of an impact in the community as far as giving goes.



Prior to anytime Hamm has made a major donation he has sold off enough CLR shares to pretty well cover the cost of the donation. Since this is a matter of public record it’s something to keep an eye out for.
I don’t know if Hamm is an OU or OSU sports fan and if he might be inclined to send any money for sports or academics above what he has already done?

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## Pete

Harold Hamm is going through a divorce which is probably one of the reasons that they pulled back their horns on the Stage Center site.

They are still growing like crazy but he probably wants to wait until the divorce terms are settled, as he's going to lose a lot of his net worth and maybe even shares in Continental.

----------


## blangtang

> Actually just over a year ago CLR was just a little higher than it was yesterday or today.
> CLR closed at 91.15, up $1.05 +1.17%.
> Todays enter day high which is also a 52 week high was $91.89.
> 
> 
> The news which is largely responsible for the recent CLR rise IMHO was posted on a link on post # 46 that I made. This news makes CLR more valuable. With Hamms age and possible heath issues this increases the odds of a possible buyout IMHO.
> Unlike SD and CHK IMHO CLR is a well-managed company. I would think and certainly hope that this value would be recognized by another company. In the event of a buy out I would hope they would keep most of the work force in OCK for their talents?


Interesting - I hear the opposite, that CLR is more likely to be be taken private since Hamm already owns something like 2/3rds or so of the company.   :Headscratch:

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## HangryHippo

Why would they now be bought out? I don't understand how that makes them any more likely now.

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## ou48A

> Why would they now be bought out? I don't understand how that makes them any more likely now.


The majors have a tendency to like a higher degree of certainty …. 
This new development somewhat increases the degree of certainty in my humble opinion.

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## ou48A

> Interesting - I hear the opposite, that CLR is more likely to be be taken private since Hamm already owns something like 2/3rds or so of the company.


Taking CLR private would still involve a buy-out and at likely a premium price or risk a very serious legal battle from other shareholders.
CLR still has lots of expansion possibilities. They will still need a great deal of working capital to execute their plans.
 I could be wrong, but I dont see CLR going private anytime soon.

----------


## ou48A

> Harold Hamm is going through a divorce which is probably one of the reasons that they pulled back their horns on the Stage Center site.
> 
> They are still growing like crazy but he probably wants to wait until the divorce terms are settled, as he's going to lose a lot of his net worth and maybe even shares in Continental.


I would bet that after his first divorce that Hamm singed some type of prenuptial arrangement?

----------


## blangtang

> Taking CLR private would still involve a buy-out and at likely a premium price or risk a very serious legal battle from other shareholders.
> CLR still has lots of expansion possibilities. They will still need a great deal of working capital to execute their plans.
>  I could be wrong, but I dont see CLR going private anytime soon.


Fair enough, to be clear the speculation on going private is more in the 2015 time frame, nothing pointing to that possibility being imminent.

I suppose Continental would be a good target for a major wanting a stake in the Bakken, I've heard Whiting's name tossed around as well.  we'll see if anything happens up there.

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## Teo9969

A buyout? ...Hamm owns just under 70% of CLR.

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## Pete

Quietly, CLR just hit a 52-week high and continues to surge.

In fact,this appears to be an all-time high as well.

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## DowntownMan

All time high is like in the 94 or 96 range. So give it a few weeks and you will have your all time high. Yes the 92.99 was the highest it's been in the last 52 weeks

----------


## ou48A

Exclusive: Looming divorce could threaten U.S. oil baron's empire - Yahoo! Finance
Reuters – 6 minutes ago

ATLANTA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm, one of America's wealthiest and most influential businessmen, is embroiled in a contentious divorce that could lead to a record financial settlement and threaten his control of America's fastest-growing oil company.

Sue Ann Hamm, Harold Hamm's second wife and a former executive at Continental, filed for divorce on May 19, 2012, Oklahoma court records show.

Documents in the case are sealed. But in a March 7, 2013 filing obtained by Reuters, Sue Ann Hamm alleges that Harold "was having an affair" that she discovered in 2010, prompting her to later file for divorce.

Harold Hamm, 67, is a leading force behind the U.S. oil boom and served as the senior energy adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign. Time magazine named him one of the most influential people in the world, and Forbes listed him last year among the 50 richest Americans. Ranked No. 35, Hamm is worth $11.3 billion, the magazine estimated.

His estranged wife, Sue Ann Hamm, 56, has held key posts at Continental. She has led oil-industry trade groups in Oklahoma, testified to Congress on behalf of Continental and created Continental's oil and gas marketing units. She is no longer with the company, her lawyer said.

The Hamms were married in April 1988 and have two adult children, Jane and Hilary. Harold Hamm has three children from a prior marriage that ended in divorce in 1987.

*Whether the Hamms signed a prenuptial agreement is unclear.* Legal analysts who reviewed court filings said that without one, the case could lead to a record-breaking financial settlement - one that could exceed the $1.7 billion paid by News Corp. founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch to ex-wife Anna in 1999. One outcome could be a split of "marital property" that may include dividing Harold Hamm's controlling 68 percent stake in Continental, currently worth $11.2 billion.

"I don't know of anything that's ever been this big," said Barbara Atwood, professor emeritus of family law at the University of Arizona. "There's just so much money involved."

Continental was subpoenaed in the case last summer, and it was ordered by the Oklahoma court to hand over documents late last year. Four other companies controlled by Hamm also were subpoenaed.

A review of Continental's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and company statements shows no mention of the divorce proceedings. Although corporate governance scholars said Continental had no legal obligation to disclose the Hamms' divorce proceedings to shareholders, "It's a lawsuit that involves a potential impact on the controlling shareholder," said Charles Elson, director of The Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. "Certainly, it would be relevant to an investor if there is going to be or could be a shift in control."

After receiving inquiries from Reuters, Continental put out a news release acknowledging the divorce case. The fight, the company said, "is not anticipated to have any impact or effect on the company's business or operations."

Spokeswoman Kristin Miskovsky didn't respond to requests for comment.

An attorney for Sue Ann Hamm declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement governing the case.

Continental shares were trading down 2.1 percent at $86.86 by 3:16 p.m. EDT. They fell as low as $85.85 after the divorce proceedings were acknowledged by Hamm.

Hamm, the 13th child of Oklahoma sharecroppers, started his career at age 20, scrubbing scum out of oil barrels. A few years later, he drilled a 75-barrel-a-day gusher in his home state, helping pay for university classes in geology. He founded Continental in 1967, two decades before he and the former Sue Ann Arnall were married. She is an economist and a lawyer.

Hamm's biggest breakthrough came in the 1990s, when he helped discover the Bakken field of North Dakota, the largest new U.S. oil prospect since the 1960s. The discovery helped Continental lead a resurgence in U.S. oil production, using the controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The technique pumps water laden with sand and chemicals underground to release previously unreachable oil reserves.

Today, the Bakken yields nearly 700,000 barrels a day, roughly 10 percent of American output. Continental controls more than 1 million acres in the formation, which stretches from North Dakota to Montana. The firm also owns oil and gas rights in several other states, including Oklahoma.

Continental has said the entire Bakken field - being developed by several companies - may contain 24 billion barrels of oil. That would be enough to meet U.S. oil demand for more than three years. Drilling by Continental alone added 649 million barrels to the company's proved oil reserves between 2008 and 2012.

The firm says it controls drilling leases to more oil-rich Bakken acres than any other company, helping to make Hamm the largest oil baron in the United States.

Hamm directly controls 126.3 million shares, or 68 percent, of Oklahoma City-based Continental and more through family trusts. Those shares alone are worth at least $11.2 billion. Continental shares have risen 21 percent this year and closed on March 20 at $89.15, down 0.6 percent.

But his stake in Continental could change significantly as a result of a divorce settlement. The firm's massive growth occurred during the marriage. Its share price has surged nearly 500 percent in the five years since an initial public offering in 2007.

Under Oklahoma family law, wealth accrued through the efforts of either spouse during a marriage would typically be subject to "equitable distribution" between the parties.

"A court in Oklahoma may look closely at what each party has contributed," said legal specialist Atwood. "But it sounds to me like both spouses here were working hard in the business."

"Where there are concerns about company control in a settlement, a spouse would usually get paid the value of the shares," she said. "This is going to be really interesting."

Court records show that Sue Ann Hamm petitioned for divorce in May 2012. But earlier Oklahoma court records suggest the Hamms' relationship has been rocky.

In 1998, Harold Hamm filed for divorce and demanded that Sue Ann undergo a psychological evaluation. He later withdrew the divorce petition and the case file was ordered destroyed this year, on February 13, according to Oklahoma court records. What prompted the destruction of the file is unclear. In 2005, Sue Ann Hamm subsequently filed for divorce; that case also was dropped.

Her 2005 divorce filing is now a key issue in the Hamms' divorce battle, according to a court document reviewed by Reuters. Indeed, it could play a pivotal role in determining how property - including interest in Continental - will be divided, legal analysts said.

According to Harold Hamm, the couple "actually separated in the fall of 2005 and have lived separate lives ever since," the court document says.

But Sue Ann Hamm's attorneys counter that the Hamms "continued to reside together (although they do own four homes), travel together, attend public functions together, raise their children together, file joint tax returns, and work together."

In May 2012, for instance, Harold and Sue Ann Hamm jointly hosted a fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Romney at their $3 million mansion in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, according to photos and media reports. The event raised more than $2 million for the Romney campaign.

Last September, Reuters reported that Harold Hamm had made political contributions that exceeded federal legal limits by as much as 41 percent during the 2011-2012 election period. Continental said at the time that the donations were made from an account held jointly by Harold and Sue Ann Hamm and were intended to be split between Hamm and his wife, which would have kept the donations within legal limits.

In 2011, Harold and Sue Ann Hamm also jointly gave $20 million to a diabetes center at the University of Oklahoma named for Harold Hamm, who has Type II diabetes. The same year, the couple signed up for Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' Giving Pledge initiative, indicating their intention to dedicate most of their wealth to philanthropy.

In a court filing two weeks ago, Sue Ann Hamm's attorneys say the Hamms agreed "to engage in marriage counseling sessions in an effort to save their marriage" in November 2010, after Sue Ann Hamm concluded that her husband had been unfaithful.

Whether the Hamms separated in 2005 or more recently is crucial as the court determines how Harold Hamm's assets will be divided, legal analysts said. Under Oklahoma family law, the increase in the value of an asset during marriage is considered part of the total pool of "marital property."

"In general, if you own property prior to the marriage and you bring it to the marriage, it is separate," said Marianne Blair, a professor of family law at the University of Tulsa. "But that separate property can increase in value. To the extent the increase was due to marital efforts or marital funds," it can be divided by the court.

Hamm divorced his first wife, Judith Ann, in 1987, according to Oklahoma court records. A document filed by Sue Ann Hamm's attorneys in the current case shows they received access to marital records in the prior divorce in March.

Attorneys for both Hamms will present evidence about when the couple separated and the resulting "date of valuation of (the) business" on May 20, according to the court docket.

What's decided could help determine whether their divorce settlement rivals the largest reported divorce settlement to date - the $1.7 billion paid by Murdoch to his ex-wife Anna in 1999. That settlement, in California, directly affected shareholders of News Corp. because it awarded Murdoch's three eldest children stakes in the voting shares of the company. Reports of the Murdoch divorce sent News Corp. shares lower.

Daniel Jaffe, a family law attorney in Beverly Hills, California who represented Anna Murdoch, declined to discuss the Murdoch case. But after reviewing the court docket and document obtained by Reuters in the Hamm case, he said Sue Ann Hamm's decades of work for Continental was unique compared with most divorce cases.

"She has a leg up because she worked for the company and she can claim that a portion of her efforts went into making the company what it is today," Jaffe said. "She was married to him when the value of the company went up. She has got to be looking for a couple of billion dollars."

----------


## Bellaboo

I had an economics professor tell the class one day 'you can marry more money in 5 minutes than you can earn in a lifetime'.....guess he was spot on.

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## HangryHippo

Am I the only one that wants to tell Reuters to go to hell?

----------


## DowntownMan

> Am I the only one that wants to tell Reuters to go to hell?


Reuters needs to get out of okc and leave our oil and gas industry alone.

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## adaniel

At this point, I think they're just digging and seeing what sticks.

I mean, really, a divorce? How is this anyone's business? High net worth people get divorced all of the time and whatever entities they control go on just fine.

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## HangryHippo

> At this point, I think they're just digging and seeing what sticks.
> 
> I mean, really, a divorce? How is this anyone's business? High net worth people get divorced all of the time and whatever entities they control go on just fine.


That's what's so annoying.  This stuff happens all the time but because it seems like they're on a little rampage against OKC's O&G businesses, they hang around and it's beyond annoying.

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## onthestrip

> Am I the only one that wants to tell Reuters to go to hell?


Why, because they report news? This is obviously a story because it might be the biggest divorce settlement ever that involves one of the richest men in the US. Its not like this will affect OKC folks, take it easy.

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## ou48A

The CEO has direct control of an unusually large percentage of the stock of a publically traded company and a significant percentage of this stock could be liquidated as a result of a divorce settlement.... This is a news worthy event to shareholders of CLR.

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## Pete

> The CEO has direct control of an unusually large percentage of the stock of a publically traded company and a significant percentage of this stock could be liquidated as a result of a divorce settlement.... This is a news worthy event to shareholders of CLR.


Absolutely agree.

And while the local newspaper has known about this for some time, it's never been discussed in the media.  If it had been, Reuters wouldn't have any new news.  As it is, I'm glad they are bringing this into the light.

And this may be the biggest divorce settlement of all time and directly impact a major Oklahoma employer...  How is this NOT news??


I was told that the reason Continental backed off the State Center site was due to this pending divorce.  So yes, this whole situation impacts OKC very directly and I'm glad someone is at least attempting to get to the facts.

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## zookeeper

Blame the messenger? I don't think Reuters has reported anything that wasn't true.  It's not their fault we just happened to have two peas from the same pod with McClendon and Tom Ward, and the implications of this Hamm divorce is huge news. OU48A and Pete are right.

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## Pete

Sad the Oklahoman only picks up on this after Reuters goes to press with a long story filled with all the details.

People have known about this for a while yet the Oklahoman never had even mentioned it until now   

Continental Resources founder confirms divorce proceedings | News OK

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## Steve

I'm going to get into an argument on this. But reporting on this one isn't as clear cut or simple as folks are assuming. I'll just say this... it ain't easy being a professional reporter, and it's even more difficult being a professional editor - especially if they have to oversee folks like myself and Brianna Bailey. (and as an aside - records were sealed. Reuters "obtained" a part of the filing. How? Who provided it? I don't know. But were we (JR, OKC Biz and Gaz heard this too) supposed to report an unconfirmed rumor of a divorce? And don't be so sure Reuters has it all correct on this one....they certainly omitted important details that are in The Oklahoman's report tomorrow.

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## HangryHippo

I understand they're reporting news, but its annoying that every damn thing they report is about a negative event with one of our companies. It's just old at this point. Yes it's worthy news that needs to be reported, but I have no doubt I'm not the only one that's tired of the uneasy Reuters reports.

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## HangryHippo

Did anyone else watch the Today Show this morning?  This story was covered and they were talking about the stock price drop that's bound to continue.

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## HangryHippo

> I was told that the reason Continental backed off the State Center site was due to this pending divorce.  So yes, this whole situation impacts OKC very directly and I'm glad someone is at least attempting to get to the facts.


What exactly does this divorce do to Continental?  It's probably obvious to other posters, but why would they have to back off the site because of Hamm's personal divorce?

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## Bellaboo

In todays DOK article, I think they had filed and rescinded divorce papers on two previous occasions, as far back as 1998.

http://newsok.com/continental-resour...rticle/3768079

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## onthestrip

Calling Midtowner...why and how does a file get destroyed?

From the Reuters article:
_In 1998, Harold Hamm filed for divorce and demanded that Sue Ann undergo a psychological evaluation. He later withdrew the divorce petition and the case file was ordered destroyed this year, on February 13, according to Oklahoma court records. What prompted the destruction of the file is unclear. In 2005, Sue Ann Hamm subsequently filed for divorce; that case also was dropped._

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## Teo9969

> What exactly does this divorce do to Continental?  It's probably obvious to other posters, but why would they have to back off the site because of Hamm's personal divorce?


Hamm owns 68% of CLR. He runs the company through and through. There is no board, no investors, no executives that can out-vote him.

If he loses half of that...geez, even just 20% of the total shares (~30% of his shares) then all of the sudden he's no longer majority owner, the company probably ends up in multiple investors hands and all the crap that the average publicly traded company has to deal with in terms of battles with shareholders become particularly relevant.

Or a potentially worse scenario: his wife actually holds onto the shares she gets in the divorce and now has a major say in the business practices of CLR, makes use of it and somehow damages the company.

None of this is inherently *bad* but a major shakeup of the ownership of the company rightly means that any major moves the company is going to make need to placed on hold to see how things pan out.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Hamm owns 68% of CLR. He runs the company through and through. There is no board, no investors, no executives that can out-vote him.
> 
> If he loses half of that...geez, even just 20% of the total shares (~30% of his shares) then all of the sudden he's no longer majority owner, the company probably ends up in multiple investors hands and all the crap that the average publicly traded company has to deal with in terms of battles with shareholders become particularly relevant.
> 
> Or a potentially worse scenario: his wife actually holds onto the shares she gets in the divorce and now has a major say in the business practices of CLR, makes use of it and somehow damages the company.
> 
> None of this is inherently *bad* but a major shakeup of the ownership of the company rightly means that any major moves the company is going to make need to placed on hold to see how things pan out.


Thanks, Teo for the informative post.  Very interesting stuff.

----------


## Pete

And regarding them possibly building a new tower, I'm sure the uncertainty in all of this just means they don't want to get into a rush to launch some huge project.

I was just told by someone in the know they actually have some room to grow in their current building, although that would last long given their current growth trajectory.  And of course, it takes 3-5 years to get a new urban down open for business, unless they've already started some of the design and programming work.

----------


## Just the facts

> Or a potentially worse scenario: his wife actually holds onto the shares she gets in the divorce and now has a major say in the business practices of CLR, makes use of it and somehow damages the company.


Why would she damage something worth billions of dollars?  Hell, for all we know she is better at running the company than Harold is.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Hell, for all we know she is better at running the company than Harold is.


Uh, JTF, sometimes you make some solid points, but I don't think this is one of them...

----------


## Just the facts

> Uh, JTF, sometimes you make some solid points, but I don't think this is one of them...


Why not?  She was a leading executive at the company for years and launched two of the biggest divisions.  She is also an economist and an attorney.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Why not?  She was a leading executive at the company for years and launched two of the biggest divisions.  She is also an economist and an attorney.


I'm not saying she isn't capable of being a wonderful leader, I'm saying it seemed like you were too easily discounting what Harold Hamm has done for Continental.  And I thought that was a mistake.

----------


## Just the facts

> I'm not saying she isn't capable of being a wonderful leader, I'm saying it seemed like you were too easily discounting what Harold Hamm has done for Continental.  And I thought that was a mistake.


If what she claims is true then the jury is still out on what he "did for Continental".  Anyhow, I am sure in the end this will be much ado about nothing.  Besides, OKC could probably use a woman's touch in the good 'ol boy network.  On that topic, I wonder who the most powerful business woman is in OKC.

----------


## Bellaboo

> If what she claims is true then the jury is still out on what he "did for Continental".  Anyhow, I am sure in the end this will be much ado about nothing.  Besides, OKC could probably use a woman's touch in the good 'ol boy network.  *On that topic, I wonder who the most powerful business woman is in OKC*.


It was Christy Gaylord Everest, before the sale.....

----------


## Teo9969

> Why would she damage something worth billions of dollars?  Hell, for all we know she is better at running the company than Harold is.


I wasn't saying that that was a given. I'm just expressing a possible reason for caution in proceeding with big projects.

I'm sure everything will be fine on the CLR front. Even if Hamm only owns 34% of the stock, that's still a major amount. I'd just hate to see that much stock get liquidated and put in the hands of sundry investment firms. I hope if she gets stock in the divorce and decides to sell it, that she sells it to OKC investors. We've seen enough crap with CHK and SD to last us 5 to 10 years. I really hope CLR is not even exposed to the possibility.

----------


## MustangGT

I can easily see her demanding and getting 50% of his stock which would make her just as powerful in the company as he is.  A company such as this cannot answer to two masters.  Somebody has to have the ultimate and final say so.

----------


## Bellaboo

> I can easily see her demanding and getting 50% of his stock which would make her just as powerful in the company as he is.  A company such as this cannot answer to two masters.  Somebody has to have the ultimate and final say so.


I don't think so. She got married to him many years after his company was established. She might gain an X factor from that point on, but his gain may be an X factor of 100.

I have a friend who had this scenario - He got married late in life, as an example lets say he had $10,000 in his 401k when he got married. Lets say he got divorced when it reached $20,000. She wanted half, $10,000, but only got $4,000, due to the fact that he had a larger percent gain due to owning a larger part of the 401k (at the point of marriage) that the final principal grew to. He walked away with $16,000.

----------


## MustangGT

Yes no maybe so.  Your friends low end divorce is not even in the same league.  When massive amounts of money are concerned what works for the little people many times goes out the window.  It is reported that the companies stock price surged 500% since they got married.  Also she has held executive positions within the company.  Not so simple now is it?

----------


## ou48A

> Hamm owns 68% of CLR. He runs the company through and through. There is no board, no investors, no executives that can out-vote him.
> 
> If he loses half of that...geez, even just 20% of the total shares (~30% of his shares) then all of the sudden he's no longer majority owner, the company probably ends up in multiple investors hands and all the crap that the average publicly traded company has to deal with in terms of battles with shareholders become particularly relevant.
> 
> Or a potentially worse scenario: his wife actually holds onto the shares she gets in the divorce and now has a major say in the business practices of CLR, makes use of it and somehow damages the company.
> 
> None of this is inherently *bad* but a major shakeup of the ownership of the company rightly means that any major moves the company is going to make need to placed on hold to see how things pan out.


What you say is mostly true IMHO. However if there is no prenuptial agreement in place the easiest thing to do for all involved may be to seek a buyer for CLR. That would probably be bad news for OKC.

With the major egos involved we could eventually see this having a major impact on many average CLR employees who had nothing to do with the personal matters of the CEO?

----------


## ou48A

> I'm going to get into an argument on this. But reporting on this one isn't as clear cut or simple as folks are assuming. I'll just say this... it ain't easy being a professional reporter, and it's even more difficult being a professional editor - especially if they have to oversee folks like myself and Brianna Bailey. (and as an aside - records were sealed. Reuters "obtained" a part of the filing. How? Who provided it? I don't know. But were we (JR, OKC Biz and Gaz heard this too) supposed to report an unconfirmed rumor of a divorce? And don't be so sure Reuters has it all correct on this one....they certainly omitted important details that are in The Oklahoman's report tomorrow.


The reporting on this may not be as clear cut or simple as folks are assuming but just like SD and CHK the great bulk of the breaking news on these news events seems to have come from out of state sources.

Its almost like the local journalist are afraid to risk offending our local business when their business decisions and governance is in question.

Anyone with a lick of business common sense could see the CHK problem brewing for well over a decade.

----------


## DowntownMan

> What you say is mostly true IMHO. However if there is no prenuptial agreement in place the easiest thing to do for all involved may be to seek a buyer for CLR. That would probably be bad news for OKC.
> 
> With the major egos involved we could eventually see this having a major impact on many average CLR employees who had nothing to do with the personal matters of the CEO?


So they haven't lived together since 2005....CLR ipo was in 2007.... Could thing be a positive on Harold side??

----------


## ou48A

> So they haven't lived together since 2005....CLR ipo was in 2007.... Could thing be a positive on Harold side??


I have no idea on that…..That’s for the legal system to figure out….. 
She had been working for CLR and representing Hamm as his wife at events many times since the IPO.

----------


## MustangGT

> So they haven't lived together since 2005....CLR ipo was in 2007.... Could thing be a positive on Harold side??


The living arrangements are allegations only.  No true facts have come to light yet on that matter.  I hope this debacle will not take the decade to resolve that the Dolese divorce caused.  My family had a major financial interest in Dolese and that divorce was a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS.

----------


## Teo9969

> What you say is mostly true IMHO. However if there is no prenuptial agreement in place the easiest thing to do for all involved may be to seek a buyer for CLR. That would probably be bad news for OKC.
> 
> With the major egos involved we could eventually see this having a major impact on many average CLR employees who had nothing to do with the personal matters of the CEO?


If I'm Harold Hamm, no way do I let the company just get sold like that. He's still getting paid very handsomely and will have plenty of capital over time to buy enough shares to maintain the largest holding of any one entity in the company. I imagine he'll give everything he has to maintain 51% of the shares if he has to. 

Even if she gets half, 34% is a massive number, and he's getting (and would continue to get) paid much more than she is which will mean he would eventually be able to buy a significantly greater portion of shares to maintain his power.

(Just for the record: Hamm would maintain 51% of CLR if he maintains 75% of his current share count. If he can win a case where he only has to give her 25%, then he's still the majority partner.

----------


## Bellaboo

> Yes no maybe so.  Your friends low end divorce is not even in the same league.  When massive amounts of money are concerned what works for the little people many times goes out the window.  It is reported that the companies stock price surged 500% since they got married.  Also she has held executive positions within the company.  Not so simple now is it?


This was just an example. 

Don't think she was the CEO or Chairman of the Board, do you ?

----------


## Rover

I am sure she got paid fairly for her work with the company. What she is due as the spouse is not based on her work.  It is assumed she was already compensated for those contributions towards the company's growth.  In fact, it might even hurt her cause.

----------


## zookeeper

> *I am sure she got paid fairly for her work with the company. What she is due as the spouse is not based on her work.  It is assumed she was already compensated for those contributions towards the company's growth.*  In fact, it might even hurt her cause.


Couldn't the same be said of Harold?

----------


## Teo9969

> Couldn't the same be said of Harold?


No, because he actually owned the shares before the company's growth and before the marriage.

I'm sure that my opinion is at odds with the law, in which case the law is ridiculous and wrong, but it is my not so humble opinion that there is ZERO argument to be made for her receiving any percentage of the *original* stock owned by Harold, even in the absence of a prenup. It is one thing if he liquidated, borrowed against, or otherwise made use of any stock as a monetary instrument during the course of their marriage, but the amount of shares which have never been touched ought to remain his under all circumstances. Any stocks he purchased, borrowed against or made use of as monetary instruments during the marriage ought to be divided evenly.

----------


## Rover

> Couldn't the same be said of Harold?


Yes on earnings.  No on the right to the equity.

----------


## zookeeper

A video piece from ABC News on Saturday night. Sue Ann Hamm could become the wealthiest woman in the United States - richer than Oprah Winfrey.

----------


## Teo9969

Interesting, that video says she "might win $3B". If that's 100% CLR shares (which I imagine CLR shares would count for 97.5%+) then that equates to ~20% of the companies shares, knocking Hamm from 68% to ~48%.

If the *most* she can win is $3B then I don't think OKC nor CLR have anything to worry about. 48% is still a gargantuan holding in a public company. No other one entity is likely to approach even a quarter of the holding that Hamm would own, other than Sue Ann, but even she wouldn't be at half of Hamm's amount.

----------


## blangtang

Its been interesting following Continental as a company, they are really reaping the benefits of being sort of the first mover into the Bakken, and with that they've seen tremendous growth over the last 5 years or so as the Bakken has rapidly grown to account for almost 10 % of all the oil produced in the US.  Its really an under the radar story...Moving the HQ to OKC is a big part of it too.

But on another note, I've seen way too much tabloid level media in the last week about this company, of course its about the divorce/$$$/TheNewOprah, blah, blah, blah.  Just sickening what gets covered...

----------


## ou48A

Continental Resources to sell $1B in notes - Yahoo! Finance
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Continental Resources Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to sell $1 billion of new senior notes in a private offering. 

The Oklahoma City-based oil and gas producer said it plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay some of the debt under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Doesn't this belong in the Mystery Tower thread? ;-)


Oh, Sid.  Are you going to be crushed when a new tower doesn't happen?

----------


## Praedura

> I'm not worried.


Nor am I.



 :Smile:

----------


## HangryHippo

Any word on how long the divorce settlement might take?

----------


## Bellaboo

> Any word on how long the divorce settlement might take?


They've been working at it since 1998.

----------


## ou48A

> Continental Resources to sell $1B in notes - Yahoo! Finance
> OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Continental Resources Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to sell $1 billion of new senior notes in a private offering. 
> 
> The Oklahoma City-based oil and gas producer said it plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay some of the debt under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes.



There are now reports that the figure is actually 1.5 billion and not the 1 billion that was previously posted.

Continental Resources Announces Pricing of $1.5 Billion Offering of New Senior Notes due 2023 - Yahoo! Finance

Continental Resources Announces Pricing of $1.5 Billion Offering of New Senior Notes due 2023

----------


## tillyato

Not sure if I agree with it, but an interesting take on CLR and the Bakken:

Bakken Boom Destined To Fizzle? - Seeking Alpha

----------


## HangryHippo

> Not sure if I agree with it, but an interesting take on CLR and the Bakken:
> 
> Bakken Boom Destined To Fizzle? - Seeking Alpha


60% of Continental's acreage is junk?  Hmm.  Interesting, indeed.

----------


## ou48A

> Not sure if I agree with it, but an interesting take on CLR and the Bakken:
> 
> Bakken Boom Destined To Fizzle? - Seeking Alpha


The author says “There is very little gas gathering in the Bakken and little profit in it compared to oil sales.”
Gas gathering capacity is growing…. but we have known about this problem for very long time. Flaring is being reduced but many of the Bakken wells do not produce that much NG.
If the CLR “outlook is fragile” then virtually all other similar companies are fragile too IMO.
The author says “I'm not going to comment on Continental's new Oklahoma Woodford shale program.”
But to be fair and honest an analyst would need to look at CLR’s new Oklahoma Woodford shale program.

----------


## OKCRT

> The author says There is very little gas gathering in the Bakken and little profit in it compared to oil sales.
> Gas gathering capacity is growing. but we have known about this problem for very long time. Flaring is being reduced but many of the Bakken wells do not produce that much NG.
> If the CLR outlook is fragile then virtually all other similar companies are fragile too IMO.
> The author says I'm not going to comment on Continental's new Oklahoma Woodford shale program.
> But to be fair and honest an analyst would need to look at CLRs new Oklahoma Woodford shale program.


That's right and when CLR builds that new tower downtown that author will have to eat his words.

----------


## Bellaboo

I read a lot of the 'Seeking Alpha' articles on Mreit's. I notice that there are always comments disputing the accuracy  of the articles, and the authors come back in and comment with corrections to the articles....not sure how reliable they are.

On further edit, they have removed the article.....

----------


## ljbab728

More good new for Continental.

North Dakota, Montana's oil potential revised even higher | News OK




> The new oil number is 49 times more than the geological survey's 1995 forecast of 151 million barrels of recoverable oil. By 2008, the geological survey revised its estimate to 3.7 billion barrels.
> The geological survey attributed much of its most recent increase to efforts by Continental Resources and other producers to recover oil from the Three Forks Formation, which lies beneath the Bakken in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana.





> Continental Resources was one of the first developers in the area and now has a stake in about 20 percent of the wells drilled so far. The company has led the effort to develop the deeper rock layers in the area.
> Continental CEO Harold Hamm said he still thinks the government estimates are too low, but that he is pleased with the revision.

----------


## ou48A

> More good new for Continental.
> 
> North Dakota, Montana's oil potential revised even higher | News OK



This new is going to make CLR an even stronger take over target.

----------


## BoulderSooner

> This new is going to make CLR an even stronger take over target.


harold hamm has majority control ... they can't be taken over without him deciding to sell ..

----------


## ou48A

> harold hamm has majority control ... they can't be taken over without him deciding to sell ..


I’m aware of that fact and I should have said buy out candidate rather than take over target.
As HH grows older and the more valuable his company becomes a major with reserve issue may throw enough money his way to make him take the opportunity.
I suspect Hamm still has several causes in mind that he would like to help with his money.

----------


## Bellaboo

> I’m aware of that fact and I should have said buy out candidate rather than take over target.
> As HH grows older and the more valuable his company becomes a major with reserve issue may throw enough money his way to make him take the opportunity.
> I suspect Hamm still has several causes in mind that he would like to help with his money.


He's got kids too.

----------


## Teo9969

Why would you sell the company you built in the middle of its rise to prominence?

----------


## ou48A

> Why would you sell the company you built in the middle of its rise to prominence?



That’s just it, with this report the prominence (selling price) may not ever be greater than it is now or for the next few years. 
HH would know his prospects better than anyone.

But not everyone is purely ego driven.
There are personal reasons why he might sell such as heath, a divorce and how he might want to help his community with the money. There may even be other business ventures he would be interested in?

----------


## ou48A

Continental Resources Management Discusses Q1 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

Harold G. Hamm says Continental is on track to 35% to 40% total production growth in 2013

....CLR achieved record net production of 121,500 barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter, a 42% increase over the first quarter of last year

----------


## ou48A

:Smile:

----------


## ou48A

The Wall Street Journal reports this project will be moving forward

Report Volume XXIV, Number 16 April 15, 2013

INDUSTRY NEWS (Enid, OK)  Hiland Crude, a subsidiary of Hiland Partners, is proposing a new pipeline that would cost $300 million  transporting crude from North Dakotas Bakken field to eastern Wyoming.

The pipeline is expected to have a starting capacity of 50,000 bpd, but it could hold twice that amount. The 12-inch pipeline will stretch 500 miles, and the company is in talks with various landowners and Converse County officials in Wyoming to get the project underway.

Hiland already signed deals with some landowners along the Converse County line, and the company is hopeful for more cooperation.

If all goes well with negotiations, construction will begin this summer. The pipeline is expected to foster 180 jobs throughout its construction and three to five permanent positions.

The pipeline, known as Double H, will be fully operational by August of 2014. Most of the sections will only take three to four months to construct.

Double H will begin in Dore, North Dakota, stretching to Guernsey, Wyoming. From there, the pipeline will connect to the Pony Express pipelineformerly a natural gas line that is being transformed into a passage for crude by Tallgrass Energy Partners, Oklahomas Enid News reports

Pony Express is being revamped to reach Cushing, Oklahomaa city well known for its extensive oil trading and as the center for the settlement price for West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

----------


## Bellaboo

I read in the business section of the DOK today that their divorce is in agreement.

----------


## HangryHippo

Here's a link to what I think Bellaboo is referencing:

Continental chief's divorce called 'no fault' | News OK

What does it mean to agree to a no-fault divorce?

----------


## ou48A

Exclusive: Billionaire Harold Hamm Hits Back Against WSJ Allegations

Exclusive: Billionaire Harold Hamm Hits Back Against WSJ Allegations - Forbes

----------


## ou48A

This could be a very big deal for CLR and others


Bakken: The Downspacing Revolution 

Triangle Reports "No Communication" In a Downspacing Test:

 On June 10, Triangle Petroleum (TPLM), a small-capitalization Bakken operator, reported its first quarter fiscal 2013 results and provided operational update. Some of the operational insights discussed by the company are quite notable. The most important is the confirmation of 160-acre downspacing feasibility in the deep portion of the Basin. The announcement may be a bellwether report which front runs a wave of downspacing test result releases by several larger operators expected later this year and in 2014.

 Triangle is one of the first operators to report results of a high density drilling test in the Middle Bakken. According to the company's press release, its recent downspacing test indicates potential for 6 - 8 Middle Bakken wells per 1,280 acre spacing unit, which is equivalent to 213-160 acre density, "with no communication."

 The "no communication" statement by Triangle is quite important. It suggests that there is little or no loss in well productivity and economics due to tighter development spacing. The positive downspacing resolution, if confirmed by further production history and tests by other operators, could essentially double well inventories in the most productive areas in the play, translating to significant economic value.

 While many operators have initiated downspacing pilots, specific results in the majority of cases are yet to be reported. *Continental Resources (CLR) deserves credit for coming forth, almost a year ago, with a high conviction view that high-density development patterns may be feasible in the Bakken with potentially little or no communication between wellbores. Continental has initiated an extensive pilot program to evaluate downspacing potential across its vast leasehold in the Bakken. One of Continental's comprehensive pilots is designed to test 160-acre downspacing (picture below). Results from the pilot will not be available until 2014*. 

Several other operators, including Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Oasis Petroleum (OAS), Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) and Halcon Resources (HK), to name a few, have followed Continental with their own, often quite comprehensive, evaluation programs.

: Is China Internet user growth slowing? - Seeking Alpha

----------


## blangtang

> This could be a very big deal for CLR and others
> 
> 
> Bakken: The Downspacing Revolution 
> 
> Triangle Reports "No Communication" In a Downspacing Test:
> 
>  On June 10, Triangle Petroleum (TPLM), a small-capitalization Bakken operator, reported its first quarter fiscal 2013 results and provided operational update. Some of the operational insights discussed by the company are quite notable. The most important is the confirmation of 160-acre downspacing feasibility in the deep portion of the Basin. The announcement may be a bellwether report which front runs a wave of downspacing test result releases by several larger operators expected later this year and in 2014.
> 
> ...


-----------

do you have a working link, that one is about something else...

give us some color on what is going on with Continental, that is a bit technical...

I'd like to think we are all ready to hear some stuff other than the gossipy CEO marriage drama stuff...

----------


## ou48A

> -----------
> 
> do you have a working link, that one is about something else...
> 
> give us some color on what is going on with Continental, that is a bit technical...
> 
> I'd like to think we are all ready to hear some stuff other than the gossipy CEO marriage drama stuff...


Sorry, not sure what happened, but try this link.
Bakken: The Downspacing Revolution - Seeking Alpha

----------


## HangryHippo

I'm with blangtang, can you give us a less technical version of what this actually means for Continental?

----------


## BoulderSooner

> I'm with blangtang, can you give us a less technical version of what this actually means for Continental?


Continental is the biggest player in the bakken   

the article means that there might be a lot more (double in the best part)  recoverable oil in the pay ..

----------


## ou48A

> I'm with blangtang, can you give us a less technical version of what this actually means for Continental?


Basically this news means that they should be able to drill many more wells and produce far more oil in the same acreage positions.

Down spacing is the amount of space between well's.
The lack of communication they talk about basically means there are few if any underground holes or pathways for the oil to flow into different areas or to different wells. Hence the need to drill more wells to recover the oil. It means that the new wells should produce similar results as other nearby well’s that were very good wells.. This is great news for CLR and others.

The article says this could essentially double well inventories in the most productive areas in the play. I believe CLR is still the largest lease holder in the Bakken.  

Exactly by how much is yet to be seen, but this should add a significant amount of value to CLR and to the other operators in the play.
Adding more take away pipeline capacity will also help the profitability of CLR.
Hope this helps.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Basically this news means that they should be able to drill many more wells and produce far more oil in the same acreage positions.
> 
> Down spacing is the amount of space between well's.
> The lack of communication they talk about basically means there are few if any underground holes or pathways for the oil to flow into different areas or to different wells. Hence the need to drill more wells to recover the oil. It means that the new wells should produce similar results as other nearby well’s that were very good wells.. This is great news for CLR and others.
> 
> The article says this could essentially double well inventories in the most productive areas in the play. I believe CLR is still the largest lease holder in the Bakken.  
> 
> Exactly by how much is yet to be seen, but this should add a significant amount of value to CLR and to the other operators in the play.
> Adding more take away pipeline capacity will also help the profitability of CLR.
> Hope this helps.


Definitely, thanks ou48A.

----------


## Pete

More on the Hamm divorce and it's potential impact on CLR:

Special Report: Lack of a prenup imperils oil billionaire's fortune | Reuters

----------


## HangryHippo

I wish they'd had a prenup...  I really wish we knew what the impact will wind up being on CLR.  I hope it's not as treacherous as what has hit SandRidge or CHK.

----------


## ou48A

Legendary Investor Jim Rogers Suspects The American Energy Revolution Will Disappoint - Seeking Alpha

I'm a big believer in the long-term merits of investing in the companies that are big players in the North American unconventional oil revolution. What I'm not a big believer in is the idea that oil production in the United States is going to continue grow at the rates we have seen over the past year.

I also don't believe that increasing U.S. production is going to result in a long-term drop in the price of oil.

Why don't I think oil production in the United States can continue growing at the rapid pace we have experienced over the past year?



It is because last year's production surge was the result of a move of drilling rigs from natural gas to oil that can't be repeated again in the future:



The number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States went from 200 in 2009 to 1,400 by the start of 2012. That is the big driver of the increase in oil production in the United States.

That rig count has flattened and I believe it is soon going to start showing up in the production data.

As for why I don't think the growth in U.S. oil production can significantly lower the price of oil in the long term, the answer is very simple. These new sources of oil require oil prices of $80 plus for the production to be profitable. If the price of oil drops, producers are going to quickly lay down the drilling rigs. With first year decline rates on these tight oil wells that can be up to 60%, a decrease in rigs will quickly mean a decrease in production.

This week I read an interview with legendary investor and commodities bull Jim Rogers who seems to agree with my thinking:
*Fusion:* Many believe the U.S. shale revolution is going to solve our energy problems? Is it over-hyped ?
*Rogers:* Yes, I believe it is. Regarding natural gas, the fundamentals on the ground are not nearly as good as the hype. The number of rigs on the ground has gone down 75% the last couple of years, as the wells are very short-lived, and it takes an enormous amount of money to keep them up. A number of companies have had to lower estimates of their reserves. As for oil shale, typical wells deplete at 38 percent the first year. Thus you need a lot of drilling, money, and a high price to keep up production rates. All you have to do is go out in the oil patch. I believe the investment world will be disappointed with the notion that supply is so great that oil will collapse.EOG Resources (EOG), the single largest producer of oil using horizontal wells in the United States, in its most recent presentation shows how production in the North Dakota Bakken play is now flattening:

_(click to enlarge)_

*What Does This Mean For Investors?*

If I'm right, oil prices of $90 plus are going to be the norm going forward. What I think this actually means is that investors should embrace these unconventional producers that have been responsible for North America's production growth.

Some of the top unconventional oil producers in the United States include:

- EOG Resources

-* Continental Resources* (CLR)

- Kodiak Oil and Gas (KOG)

The reason I like these unconventional producers is that I believe their "second wave" of production from these unconventional plays is going to be exceptionally profitable. By "second wave" I mean the secondary phase of production through downspacing and enhanced oil recovery (e.g., waterflooding).

The first or initial phase of production will involve making investments in roads, pipelines and other expensive infrastructure. The secondary phase of production will not require a good chunk of this spending as this infrastructure is already in place.

*Every barrel produced through secondary production will be much more profitable than the barrels produced in the initial production phase. That means that cash that was previously needed for investments in infrastructure now becomes available for distribution to shareholders either through balance sheet improvement, dividends or share repurchases.*

*I'm invested in these unconventional oil producers for the long term. I believe that with each passing year, the acreage that these companies have locked up is going to prove more and more valuable.*

Source: Legendary Investor Jim Rogers Suspects The American Energy Revolution Will Disappoint

----------


## gurantula35

Have a friend at continental who says they have been informed they may be moving to the chase tower soon because their isn't enough space.

----------


## HangryHippo

Is there any sort of timeline for the resolution of the Hamm divorce?  I can't find if a court date has been set or what's going on now.

----------


## ou48A

CLR's Second quarter production averaged 135,700 Boepd, up 43% from the second quarter of 2012. This production growth and additional operating efficiencies resulted in record EBITDAX of $708 million, up 14% from the first quarter of 2013 and 68% higher than the second quarter of 2012. 


Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR): Continental Resources Management Discusses Q2 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

This is very good news IMO for this OKC company

----------


## Pete

Just saw in a recent OKC Economic Development Trust that CLR now has 515 employees in OKC as of July 2013.

They added almost 200 jobs in the last 12 months.

----------


## Pete

> Is there any sort of timeline for the resolution of the Hamm divorce?  I can't find if a court date has been set or what's going on now.


While I was in town last week, I talked to someone who knows the Hamms very well and he said that the divorce was completely off.

----------


## catch22

> While I was in town last week, I talked to someone who knows the Hamms very well and he said that the divorce was completely off.


Good he can get going on the tower now.  :Big Grin:

----------


## HangryHippo

> While I was in town last week, I talked to someone who knows the Hamms very well and he said that the divorce was completely off.


How very interesting...

----------


## adaniel

This is her strategy. Just waiting for the stock price to get a little higher before she dumps him. Wait a bit longer=fatter payday. 

Well played, Mrs. Hamm.

----------


## Rover

Apparently this isn't the first time for them.  But, it gets more public as Continental grows.  Must be tough to have your personal disputes carried out on newspapers and magazines across the country.

----------


## Pete

> Apparently this isn't the first time for them.  But, it gets more public as Continental grows.  Must be tough to have your personal disputes carried out on newspapers and magazines across the country.


Yes, she has threatened to divorce him in the past and still hasn't done it.

It may have gone a bit further this time but my source said he didn't think she would ever divorce him.

----------


## CaptDave

Harold Hamm: Keystone XL no longer needed | News OK

----------


## onthestrip

> Harold Hamm: Keystone XL no longer needed | News OK


Thats fine by me. If Canada thinks they need to pipe oil to the coast to process and ship, then why dont they build the pipeline in Canada and go to their east or west coast with it. I never understood why we had to let this happen. Pretty much the only benefit was temporary pipeline construction jobs.

----------


## bradh

> Thats fine by me. If Canada thinks they need to pipe oil to the coast to process and ship, then why dont they build the pipeline in Canada and go to their east or west coast with it. I never understood why we had to let this happen. Pretty much the only benefit was temporary pipeline construction jobs.


I'm no expert in this, but I'm pretty sure there is benefit to refining and shipping those resources from American coasts.

Also, pipelines don't just sit after they are built.  There are pump stations along the entire line (a few in Oklahoma I believe) and other maintenance positions created.

----------


## ou48A

Most of the people who said they were against the Keystone XL pipeline said they were against it for pollution reasons... But the fact is that by not building though the USA we won't have any say in how its this crude oil  is burned.... We won't have the advantage of cheaper crude and the advantage of making value added products from this cheaper crude that would add some jobs to our economy. 

If the pipeline is not eventually built Canada will export much of this crude to another nation, most likely China where their will be almost zero concerns about its pollution. Shipping it to China on tanker ships will cause a lots of pollution too... The blockage of this pipeline actually means far more pollution which begs the question of why it was blocked in this first place?

The environmental movement has many people in it that are anti USA. They hide behind the green movement and other movements in an effort to weaken our nations economy and thus the nation. 
They know full well that they can motivate gullible individuals by making them feel guilty over a wide range of issues.

----------


## ou48A

Hamm and his family are probably going to build their own major crude oil pipeline from North Dakota...?
So it stands to reason why he would not want to see the construction of the XL Keystone pipeline. 
It was originally going to be blended with large amounts of Bakken crude. 
More Bakken crude means more money for Hamm's pipelines!
Smart man.

----------


## ou48A

> I'm no expert in this, but I'm pretty sure there is benefit to refining and shipping those resources from American coasts.
> 
> Also, pipelines don't just sit after they are built.  There are pump stations along the entire line (a few in Oklahoma I believe) and other maintenance positions created.


You are correct and those are good jobs but relatively few in number.

But the big benefit comes from the cheaper raw cost of crude that lets US refiners provide cheaper raw products to company's who turn these products into finished goods. This is where ten's of thousand of jobs can be created. 

Not only do we save money on the raw end cost, because of lower shipping cost we save the cost of shipping finished goods in from other nations. We are still a very huge market for goods but because we will do it cleaner than many other nations, its a big win-win.

In age where the environmentalist say to buy local, why do they hypocritically stand in the way?

----------


## onthestrip

> ... the fact is that by not building though the USA we won't have any say in how its this crude oil  is burned.... We won't have the advantage of cheaper crude and the advantage of making value added products from this cheaper crude that would add some jobs to our economy. 
> 
> If the pipeline is not eventually built Canada will export much of this crude to another nation, most likely China where their will be almost zero concerns about its pollution. Shipping it to China on tanker ships will cause a lots of pollution too... The blockage of this pipeline actually means far more pollution which begs the question of why it was blocked in this first place


It was going to be exported anyways. Why else would they pipe it to a port city? And it wasnt like it was going to drop the price of gas at the pump.

----------


## bradh

> It was going to be exported anyways. Why else would they pipe it to a port city? *And it wasnt like it was going to drop the price of gas at the pump.*


No offense, but this is such a simpleton view of oil in general.  ou48A is dead on in discussing the need for this resource in the production of other goods that come from petroleum resources.

Also, I'm sure there are more refineries along the coast capable of refining this product.  Could be wrong though.

----------


## ou48A

> It was going to be exported anyways. Why else would they pipe it to a port city? And it wasnt like it was going to drop the price of gas at the pump.


It was not all going to be exported anyway's and to say so is a lie or said out of pure ignorance that had to have been pulled from environmentalist extremist talking point lines.

Some of the crude  was to be shipped to coastal areas because that's where a very large presentage of our nations processing and shiping facilitys are located. It's much cheaper to do it this way.

The economics as I have previously explained mean that we would have the opportunity to manufacturer many products from this crude that would largely stay in the USA. What didn't stay would be exported with great value added to it. 

But this is how the environmentalist wage war against prosperity in the USA.
But Obama decision makes us more dependent on higher priced sources of crude from volatile places. Thus hampering our economy.

----------


## Bellaboo

> It was going to be exported anyways. Why else would they pipe it to a port city? And it wasnt like it was going to drop the price of gas at the pump.


I would guess, it would be exported as a refined product, to Europe......and it very well could drop prices to a degree, due to an increase in refined product capacity.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> It was going to be exported anyways. Why else would they pipe it to a port city? And it wasnt like it was going to drop the price of gas at the pump.


I don't know...could it be because the bulk of large US refineries are located in and around Houston... Did your inside sources tell you it was going to be exported? That's what all the crazy environmentalists have said, but from everything I've read about the project and from my knowledge of the industry, the vast majority of oil refined in Houston is used domestically.

----------


## CaptDave

US Gulf and East Coasts Expanding Gasoline and Diesel Exports  Breaking Energy - Energy industry news, analysis, and commentary

U.S. Exports of Finished Motor Gasoline (Thousand Barrels)

Summer gasoline prices 16 cents less than 2012; why not lower? - Los Angeles Times

----------


## DoctorTaco

> US Gulf and East Coasts Expanding Gasoline and Diesel Exports  Breaking Energy - Energy industry news, analysis, and commentary
> 
> U.S. Exports of Finished Motor Gasoline (Thousand Barrels)
> 
> Summer gasoline prices 16 cents less than 2012; why not lower? - Los Angeles Times


Yes the US exports a ton of finished petroleum products. But I cannot see why this is a bad thing. As high as our trade deficit is we could use a few exports. And finished petroleum products have a lot of value added to them during the refining process--a process which occurs within the US and which we are very good at. So yes, we import oil, refine it, and export some as finished products. In so doing, we take a raw commodity, increase its value dramatically and keep the profits here in the USA. We employ people in the refining process and we help our balance of trade also.

How is this different than if we were importing beaver pelts and making them into fine hats which we then exported for a profit? 

The debate over Keystone XL is really about environmental concerns. I am not at all sure how the message, "The US doesn't need Canadian oil, it'll just get exported!" has any relevance. Perhaps it is the oil comp[anies themsleves who played into this, by implying or even explicitly saying that improting Canadian crude will lower people's prices at the pump here in the US.

----------


## CaptDave

> Perhaps it is the oil companies themsleves who played into this, by implying or even explicitly saying that improting Canadian crude will lower people's prices at the pump here in the US.


Exactly - I do not object to the US exporting gasoline at all. But one of the primary reasons given for the Keystone being "necessary" is domestic supply. Simply not true. It is the usual tactic of using national security or energy security for the oil companies to get their way knowing many people will blindly agree. If security was the real motivation, we would not be increasing our exports, we would maintain a stockpile of known reserves to be extracted and refined when needed. But the industry is sucking every drop of oil from the ground they can right now. There are some benefits to that I guess but they certainly are not looking beyond the balance sheet at any potential future strategic plan.

A little honesty from the industry would be refreshing. They want the pipeline to make even more in profit regardless of the potential environmental consequences. The oil companies do not operate with any benevolent intent - profit is their sole motive. Not a problem, but stop telling half truths to deceive people.

----------


## ou48A

One of the great advantages of being able to export what is a fairly small amount of gasoline is that in the grand scheme of things, is that it provides a degree of cushion against  refinery outages.
In the mean time the refineries can make a little extra money which in the end  helps US consumers by providing cheaper and stable supplies of gasoline and other products. 
It also helps keeps people employed in high skilled good jobs.

----------


## ou48A

> The debate over Keystone XL is really about environmental concerns. I am not at all sure how the message, "The US doesn't need Canadian oil, it'll just get exported!" has any relevance. Perhaps it is the oil comp[anies themsleves who played into this, by implying or even explicitly saying that improting Canadian crude will lower people's prices at the pump here in the US.




The Canadian crude would displace crude from places that are further away that arrive to the USA by tanker. This difference in shipping cost would lower prices at the pump by a little, so it's not wrong to say that prices would be lower at the pump. This same cost advantage would give us a potential manufacturing advantage on other goods and services.

This administration supported off shore oil drilling off the coast of Brazil with billions of dollars of backing that a major Obama booster was heavily involved in. Then another major Obama booster makes tons of money because new crude oil is being forced onto his trains.

Off shore drilling comes with increased risk and shipping crude by trains or by tanker ships is not near as safe as it is by pipelines.... They do a great job of hiding behind it, but the XL Keystone pipeline is not about the environment, its about political pay back and punishing his enemies.
End the end, it makes average people poorer.

----------


## Bellaboo

Warren Buffet loves his North Dakota trains.......

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Yes the US exports a ton of finished petroleum products. But I cannot see why this is a bad thing. As high as our trade deficit is we could use a few exports. And finished petroleum products have a lot of value added to them during the refining process--a process which occurs within the US and which we are very good at. So yes, we import oil, refine it, and export some as finished products. In so doing, we take a raw commodity, increase its value dramatically and keep the profits here in the USA. We employ people in the refining process and we help our balance of trade also.
> 
> How is this different than if we were importing beaver pelts and making them into fine hats which we then exported for a profit? 
> 
> The debate over Keystone XL is really about environmental concerns. I am not at all sure how the message, "The US doesn't need Canadian oil, it'll just get exported!" has any relevance. Perhaps it is the oil comp[anies themsleves who played into this, by implying or even explicitly saying that improting Canadian crude will lower people's prices at the pump here in the US.


That is what I was going for in my post. We don't generally export crude oil. Just as one of the articles above says, we export finished product after domestic demand is satisfied. I'm fine with that, more oil to US refineries just means more product for US workers to refine and more profits for US companies. I can't see the keystone xl pipeline as anything other than a positive development for that reason.

----------


## PWitty

> Exactly - I do not object to the US exporting gasoline at all. But one of the primary reasons given for the Keystone being "necessary" is domestic supply. Simply not true. It is the usual tactic of using national security or energy security for the oil companies to get their way knowing many people will blindly agree. If security was the real motivation, we would not be increasing our exports, we would maintain a stockpile of known reserves to be extracted and refined when needed. But the industry is sucking every drop of oil from the ground they can right now. There are some benefits to that I guess but they certainly are not looking beyond the balance sheet at any potential future strategic plan.
> 
> A little honesty from the industry would be refreshing. They want the pipeline to make even more in profit regardless of the potential environmental consequences. The oil companies do not operate with any benevolent intent - profit is their sole motive. Not a problem, but stop telling half truths to deceive people.


Just because we export refined gasoline to certain trade partners doesn't mean we don't need to boost our own domestic supply.

----------


## Kokopelli

Noticed a half page ad on the back page of Business section that  Hiland Partners has opened an office in OKC and is hiring.

Hiland Partners is owned by Harold Hamm and is currently headquartered in Enid,

----------


## Bellaboo

> Noticed a half page ad on the back page of Business section that  Hiland Partners has opened an office in OKC and is hiring.
> 
> Hiland Partners is owned by Harold Hamm and is currently headquartered in Enid,


I know nothing, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Hiland Partners HQ'd in OKC someday.

----------


## ou48A

The price of CLR stock has crossed the $100 per share mark today

----------


## blangtang

> The price of CLR stock has crossed the $100 per share mark today


people can't get enough of it today

see what happens when they issue the guidance later today

----------


## adaniel

Good thing they are still hiring. It may absorb some of the cuts that are coming to CHK.

----------


## bradh

Played golf with a geologist from Continental yesterday.  Said a lot of ex CHK people are coming over to Continental.

----------


## ou48A

Good news


Continental Resources, Inc. Announces 2014 Operating And Financial Guidance - Yahoo! Finance

OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR) expects to increase total crude oil and natural gas production in a range of 26% to 32% in 2014, based on non-acquisition capital expenditures of $4.05 billion. *Continental expects average daily production in 2014 will be in a range of 170,000 to 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) per day, with an exit rate for December 2014 of approximately 200,000 Boe per day

Total production for 2014 is expected to be 70% crude oil, in line with the Company's mid-year 2013 results and the long-term commitment to tight oil resource plays.
Benefiting from recent reductions in well costs, Continental's 2014 budget reflects 400 net well completions (1,090 gross), with 94% located in the Company's two key operating areas, the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana and the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP). The 2014 well count represents a 22% increase over current budgeted completions of 329 net wells in total for 2013.

----------


## Bellaboo

Great news for OKC - Continental expanding faster than expected -

More oil means more jobs at Continental Resources | News OK

----------


## Pete

Anyone know exactly when they law firm will be moving out of that building?




> Henry said the building has room to accommodate several years of growth, but that something will have to happen if the pace of growth continues.
> 
> “It's not full, but we can see that coming down the road,” he said. “We've got to start thinking about other alternatives.”

----------


## catch22

That statement in my mind is definitely a warm up strategy for them to start working on a tower. Gotta warm the investors up to the idea of crowded offices and inefficiency before surprising them.

----------


## Praedura

> That statement in my mind is definitely a warm up strategy for them to start working on a tower. Gotta warm the investors up to the idea of crowded offices and inefficiency before surprising them.


I like your thinking on this.  :Smile:

----------


## ou48A

CLR
Continental Resources initiated with a Buy at Goldman *Target $130.*

September 10, 2013
16:10 EDT

CLR
Continental Resources sees production increase of 26%-32% in FY14
Sees FY14 non-acquisition capital expenditures $4.05B. Continental expects average daily production in 2014 will be in a range of 170,000 to 180,000 Boe per day, with an exit rate for December 2014 of approximately 200,000 Boe per day. Total production for 2014 is expected to be 70% crude oil, in line with the company's mid-year 2013 results and the long-term commitment to tight oil resource plays. Exploration drilling accounts for approximately $500 million of 2014 capital expenditures, a 16% increase over 2013's exploratory drilling budget. Exploration activity will focus primarily on continued density drilling tests in the Bakken, further testing of the lower Three Forks formation in the Bakken, and further appraisal and a density spacing test in SCOOP. 

Stock Market & Financial Investment News: Educated Investors Get Live Stock Market News Feeds & Alerts at The Fly On the Wall

----------


## securityinfo

> Anyone know exactly when they law firm will be moving out of that building?


Lease is up in 2014.  Continental is expanding fast, and they want that office space.

----------


## ou48A

This is an indication of what's ahead for major North Dakota produces such as CLR. 

This should mean a healthy growing CLR for OKC

Helms: State?s daily oil production will double by ?17 | The Dickinson Press | Dickinson, North Dakota


North Dakotas daily oil production will double to 1.6 million barrels by 2017, Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said in a taped address to oil county and industry folks Thursday.


Helms also discussed the increasing need for well maintenance water, which he predicts will eclipse the need for fracking water, and new exploration in the Tyler Formation at the annual meeting of the North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties at the Dickinson Ramada Grand Dakota Lodge. But the projections got the biggest reaction from the crowd.

Every place is stable or inclining in well count, in jobs, in economic impacts, Helms said.
This puts us in a mode where those risk factors dont really come home to roost in North Dakota and we hit mid-2017 at about a million-and-a-half barrels a day.

He also talked a new need for water  for well maintenance.
The need for fracking water is well-known, he said. But what were beginning to realize is that these Bakken wells will need freshwater for maintenance over their life.
Operators are finding that when salt precipitation in wellbores causes production decline, it can be solved by putting freshwater down the well weekly, Helms said.

When that is factored into water use projections, maintenance water use exceeds frac water use.
So were in the process of trying to find a way to recycle  produced water safely so that we can use produced water for fracking and save our freshwater resources for maintenance, Helms said.

Billings County highway superintendent Jeff Iverson said both the water use and oil production projections were staggering.
The figures that he brought in obviously are staggering for oil production, said Duane Dukart of Houston Engineering.

Helms labeled flaring as the No. 1 challenge for state regulators, and said hes begun a conversation with the North Dakota Industrial Commission about policy changes that could help decrease flaring.

----------


## ou48A

CLR stock has topped the $110 mark this morning.. 
With CLR's future growth possibility Hamm's net worth is going to grow by billions.
I just hope Hamm keeps the bulk of his philanthropy activity in state were he could do a lot of good.

----------


## BoulderSooner

> Lease is up in 2014.  Continental is expanding fast, and they want that office space.


talked to a member of the firm this weekend in chicago ... they don't move until 2015

----------


## Pete

Continental reported to the City of OKC in July that at that time they had 515 workers in OKC.

They added 192 new in their last fiscal year, up from 80 the previous year.

----------


## ou48A

Hamm: Bakken to produce 2m bpd -Upstreamonline.com



The prolific US *Bakken shale will ultimately produce up to 2 million barrels per day of oil*, the chief executive of one of the region's top producers said in Houston Thursday.

Oil output in North Dakota, which produced 910,000 bpd in August fueled by shale, still has room to expand, Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm told the Bloomberg Oil & Gas Conference.
"We still see the technology developing. Completions are better," Hamm said, reckoning the industry has made it "75%" of the way to optimising the prospect.

"We’ve climbed the learning curve a long ways."
Continental continues to look for new acreage, focusing to a large extent on historical producing basins that could be newly exploited by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, he said.

"There’s a lot of running room yet in this industry with shale development," Hamm said. 
Oklahoma City-based Continental is currently in a push to triple production in five years, and expects to produce 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2013.

*For 2014 it is targeting 26% to 32% production growth along with a $4.1 billion capital expenditure plan*.
But Hamm sees the opportunity to revise US policy on oil exports, which are currently prohibited in the US given its historic trend of imports and supply shocks from the 1970s oil embargo.

"It’s an archaic law, closed societies don’t work," Hamm said. "We need to be in the marketplace."
But he does not believe the new abundance of US oil will result in a crash in prices as has happened with natural gas.
For the forseeable future, he expects crude to remain in the $90 to $100 range and tied to global trends.
"Oil is harder to find than gas, it’s harder to get," he added.

*Hamm said Continental is not for sale* and that he has never been approached by Chinese investors with a keen interest in US shale.
"We’ve kind of rowed our own boat," he said.

----------


## ou48A

Outstanding!
Continental Resources profit jumps nearly four-fold - Yahoo Finance

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Continental Resources Inc, which drills for oil in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Colorado, posted a nearly four-fold increase in quarterly profit as production jumped across many of its regions.
For the third quarter, the company posted net income of $167.5 million, or 91 cents per share, compared with $44.1 million, or 24 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue rose 70 percent to $823.8 million.
Production rose 38 percent to 141,873 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

----------


## Pete

Wow, CLR is really on a roll!

----------


## ou48A

> Wow, CLR is really on a roll!



You wouldn't think that by looking at it stock this morning! 
It was down 5.29 %... down 6.17 per share @110 52.
But it appears that the move down is pretty much across the board in this sector.
This stock and sector has lots of volatility.

The reality is that CLR has been on a good roll for several years with production increases. This should continue for a long time, baring influences outside of its control. Somebody told me that CLR stock will be splitting in the next few months?
The Oklahoma SCOOP play that CLR and other are heavily involved in is a huge deal to Oklahoma and is creating plenty of new millionaires.

----------


## rlewis

It looks that from extrapolating their quarterly revenue increases that they are going to finish just shy of $5 billion this year.  That will put them on the doorstep of the Fortune 500.  I would say in all likelihood that OKC will have its third Fortune 500 company in 2014.  Also their financial discipline is very impressive.  When I look at the financial statements, it is hard to find anything to knock them on.

----------


## HangryHippo

> You wouldn't think that by looking at it stock this morning! 
> It was down 5.29 %... down 6.17 per share @110 52.
> But it appears that the move down is pretty much across the board in this sector.
> This stock and sector has lots of volatility.
> 
> The reality is that CLR has been on a good roll for several years with production increases. This should continue for a long time, baring influences outside of its control. Somebody told me that CLR stock will be splitting in the next few months?
> The Oklahoma SCOOP play that CLR and other are heavily involved in is a huge deal to Oklahoma and is creating plenty of new millionaires.


I noticed that this morning too.  All of the local energy stocks are down a fair bit this morning.

----------


## Pete

Meet Harold Hamm, the billionaire behind America's 'great renaissance of oil' - U.S. News




> OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — In the history of oil, this fall is a tipping point, the moment America gurgles past Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s petroleum king.
> The man most responsible is Harold Hamm, 67, a drawling, blue-eyed billionaire, a sharecropper’s son who grew to be the richest energy mogul in America. He was the first to profitably “frack” North Dakota oil wells, leading a revolution in the way the nation coaxes energy from the earth and draining momentum from the search for cleaner fuel sources. His company, Continental Resources, has quintupled in value in a matter of years, emerging as a swaggering promoter of eco-friendly, effectively infinite oil — along with all the supposed good that flows from it.

----------


## Bellaboo

Saw this interview with HH on NBC nightly news the other night. They were on a rig down in Chickasha.

----------


## Pete

You get the feeling that Continental is going to be an absolute monster in the very near future.

At around $20 billion, their market cap is already ahead of Chesapeake and closing fast on Devon ($24 B).

----------


## ou48A

CLR general has good business practices. 
They don't over paid for things just because they can.
They have many years worth of very good drilling inventory. The SCOOP helps the CLR diversification.
The CLR people at the top are really good and as a result CLR can with stand an industry downturn better than most in their sector of the industry. I expect we will see many good things from CLR in future years.

----------


## pw405

What other plays does CLR operate in besides the Bakken (North Dakota)?... I also didn't know they used Chesapeake's drilling company, Nomac.  The pictures on the rig in that article are all on a Nomac rig.

----------


## ou48A

> What other plays does CLR operate in besides the Bakken (North Dakota)?... I also didn't know they used Chesapeake's drilling company, Nomac.  The pictures on the rig in that article are all on a Nomac rig.


Click for map
Operations | Continental Resources

----------


## Bellaboo

I'd swear I saw Harold at the game last night.....club level bar sitting with a lady.

----------


## ou48A

This is more great growth news for CLR which will likely mean a larger OKC CLR employment base in the years to come.

Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR): Barclays: Continental Resources' growth advantage sustainable for years - Seeking Alpha


Barclays: Continental Resources' growth advantage sustainable for years 

Continental Resources (CLR -0.3%) is initiated with an Overweight rating and *$138 target price at Barclays*, which believes Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR): Barclays: Continental Resources' growth advantage sustainable for years.

The firm forecasts growth rates of ~20% annually beyond 2015 vs. a peer-group average of 5%-10%, but despite premium growth, CLR shares trade at a modest 9% premium on 2015 and 20%-plus discount on 2018 estimates.

----------


## fromdust

> Click for map
> Operations | Continental Resources


I've done work for them here in the woodford play.

----------


## ou48A

Harold Hamm CNBC video interview


There&#39;s no oil glut in the US: Hamm - CNBC

----------


## Pete

BTW, I heard that some business affiliated with Harold Hamm -- not necessarily Continental as there are some other ancillary companies -- is moving into the Express Personnel building way out on NW Expressway.

Express actually has two buildings out there and has never occupied the north one, and that's where this business is going to locate.

That building is pretty darn big -- 62,000 square feet.  It's located between Council and County Line on the south side of NW Ex.

----------


## jbkrems

No, People's Church is buying some of those buildings.  They are moving into the Express Events Center next year.   :Smile:

----------


## ou48A

News about the Southern Central Oklahoma Oil Province, or SCOOP


This  really stood out to me. This is huge for CLR and to the other companies.
This will also put billions in to the states economy.




> “Continental believes the 330,000 net acres it operates in the area will produce 1.8 billion barrels. To put that into perspective, that's equal to more than half of the oil recovered in 100 years of conventional drilling in Oklahoma”.....
> …..”In total, the company estimates SCOOP could hold 70 billion barrels of oil in place.”


Click for full story
Could This Oil Field Be the Next Bakken?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> News about the Southern Central Oklahoma Oil Province, or SCOOP
> 
> 
> This  really stood out to me. This is huge for CLR and to the other companies.
> This will also put billions in to the states economy.
> 
> 
> 
> Click for full story
> Could This Oil Field Be the Next Bakken?


That's insane...I don't know how they've done it, but almost everything they touch turns out to be an awesome play, good for Continental and great for Southern Oklahoma.

----------


## Bellaboo

Excellent !  maybe they'll grow even faster than previously thought.

----------


## ou48A

> That's insane...I don't know how they've done it, but almost everything they touch turns out to be an awesome play, good for Continental and great for Southern Oklahoma.


I'm in the camp that believes that CLR is very good at what they do and among the very best in the business. 
Harold Hamm has a great track record and usually makes great decisions. I have had knowledge of his operations since the late 80's  He gives us an example of how a great education can be trumped by possessing a great amount of common sense in the business world.

Over the years this play will put many billions into the pockets of  Oklahoma’s, which is always great news.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I'm in the camp that believes that CLR is very good at what they do and among the very best in the business. 
> Harold Hamm has a great track record and usually makes great decisions. I have had knowledge of his operations since the late 80's  He gives us an example of how a great education can be trumped by possessing a great amount of common sense in the business world.
> 
> Over the years this play will put many billions into the pockets of  Oklahoma’s, which is always great news.


I agree.

----------


## mkjeeves

> News about the Southern Central Oklahoma Oil Province, or SCOOP
> 
> This  really stood out to me. This is huge for CLR and to the other companies.
> This will also put billions in to the states economy.
> 
> Click for full story
> Could This Oil Field Be the Next Bakken?


Let's hope the estimates aren't overblown! _I own some mineral interest in NW Grady county, but currently leased to Cimarrex who is also drilling the area._

----------


## ou48A

> Let's hope the estimates aren't overblown! _I own some mineral interest in NW Grady county, but currently leased to Cimarrex who is also drilling the area._


So far, CLR has a good reputation and good track record for their accurate estimates.
Even if its off 20% that's still great news.

GLTA

----------


## ou48A

*Continental Resources, a U.S.-based independent exploration and production company, snagged top honors at tonight's 15th annual Platts Global Energy Awards, the industry's most recognized awards program. 

Besting an impressive list of finalists, *the Oklahoma-based company left the stage with both "Energy Company" and "CEO" of the year titles.*

Nearly 500 energy industry executives from 19 countries attended the black-tie gala emceed by CNBC television anchor Amanda Drury at the Waldorf Astoria in midtown Manhattan. The Awards, described as the "Oscars" of energy, included 18 performance categories which honored outstanding achievement in leadership, innovation, stewardship and entrepreneurship.

"Tonight's winners exemplify stories that have dominated headlines  shale leading the growth in U.S. natural gas and oil production, Asia remaining dominant as the energy demand engine, and solar staking a greater claim to the resource mix," said Larry Neal, president of Platts, a leading global energy and commodities information provider and host of the Awards. "We congratulate Harold Hamm for Continental's impressive dual win and applaud each of this year's winners and finalists for their contributions to the world's energy future."

In its selection of CEO of the Year, the independent judges panel was impressed by Continental Resource chief Harold Hamm's foresight, boldness in experimentation, and deployment of cutting-edge technology.* With these traits as drivers, Hamm steered the company to a first-mover advantage in the Bakken shale play of North Dakota and Montana, enabling it to amass a commanding acreage position in one of the largest contiguous oil fields discovered worldwide in more than 40 years. *

The Oklahoma-based, 46-year-old oil and gas company also received the highly-sought Energy Company of the Year, an award winner chosen by the judges from the entire list of finalist companies rather than a group of nominees. For this award, judges looked for all-around excellence in execution of a total energy strategy that focused on resource diversity, breadth of portfolio, and technological innovation, as well as concern for the environment, care for the consumer and commitment to sustainability. *Judges said Continental Resources was a standout by those measures and applauded the company's operating efficiencies, its plan to triple production and proven reserves within five years, while also optimizing takeaway capacity to reach key markets.

Continental Resources Snags Twin Win: 'Company' & 'CEO' of 2013 at Platts... -- NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

----------


## Pete

The whole Harold Hamm divorce thing seems to have died down and I had heard from a friend of the Hamm family that it was completely off, but I'm sad to say that I heard something quite different this weekend.

A good friend is using the same divorce attorney that is representing either Hamm or his wife, and said it is very much still in progress.

----------


## Jeepnokc

According to OSCN, preliminary witness and exhibit lists were filed last week and there was a status conference.  Trial  is set for July 1, 2014.

OCIS Case Summary for FD-2012-2048- Sue Ann Hamm v. Harold Hamm (Oklahoma County District Courts)

----------


## Pete

Well, back to all the speculation about what this will mean for CLR.

Pretty important issue, for sure.

----------


## blangtang

I have been wondering about our Bakken friends up north.  Its funny how the media likes to do those "boom town" stories when the weather is nice...

-----

@ContinentalOil says it hasn't shut down any #Bakken oil rigs due to #PolarVortex, but that some well completions temporarily halted $CLR

----------


## ou48A

Hamm won't have to give up Continental stake in divorce

 Billionaire Harold Hamm will not have to give up his controlling stake in Continental Resources as part of a divorce settlement with his wife, Sue Ann, a judge presiding over the case said, according to Forbes. 
 The 122 million shares of Continental that Hamm owned prior to his marriage are considered "pre-marital" assets that will not be divided

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Hamm won't have to give up Continental stake in divorce
> 
>  Billionaire Harold Hamm will not have to give up his controlling stake in Continental Resources as part of a divorce settlement with his wife, Sue Ann, a judge presiding over the case said, according to Forbes. 
>  The 122 million shares of Continental that Hamm owned prior to his marriage are considered "pre-marital" assets that will not be divided


Well that's some excellent news for OKC. I guess not as much for Sue Ann, but I'm sure she'll be well taken care of.

----------


## Pete

It says he will keep the shares he had before marriage but they haven't decided about those he acquired afterwards.

Research says there are about 185 million shares outstanding and that Hamm owns 68% of those, or 126 million shares.

Since he already owned 122 million before, looks like no matter what he'll hold onto almost all his CLR ownership.

----------


## shawnw

Night before last Hamm was on Mad Money and Jim Cramer was pretty ga-ga over Hamm and Continental in general.

----------


## Pete

Divorce May Weaken Oilman's Stake in Drilling Powerhouse
Harold Hamm Has Led Continental Resources for Decades

By TOM FOWLER CONNECT
March 21, 2014 2:45 p.m. ET


Oil wildcatter Harold Hamm spent decades at the helm of Continental Resources Inc. CLR +0.72%  as it became the most powerful company in North Dakota's Bakken Shale.

But because of a quirk in Oklahoma divorce law, the success of the tiny oil-patch outfit he founded in 1967, which became a drilling powerhouse, may work against him as he splits from his wife of 25 years—and may even weaken his control of the company.

The judge overseeing the couple's divorce in Oklahoma City, where the company is based, deemed most of Mr. Hamm's 68% stake in Continental—122 million shares out of the 126 million he owns—as his premarital property. That means those shares, worth more than $14.6 billion, aren't directly subject to division with Sue Ann Hamm, a former lawyer for Continental who married Mr. Hamm in 1988.

But in Oklahoma and a handful of other states, splitting up marital assets isn't that simple.

*State law gives Mrs. Hamm the right to half of the increase in value of Mr. Hamm's premarital shares if she can prove the company's stock price rose over the course of their marriage because of her husband's efforts.*

Between Continental's May 2007 initial public offering and the Hamms' May 2012 divorce filing, the company's shares rose more than 400%, giving Mr. Hamm's stock a $6.9-billion-dollar boost. So *Mrs. Hamm could be eligible for roughly $3.45 billion, and maybe more if the court decides that increases in the company's value predate its stock market debut.*

Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Hamm would comment, according to their lawyers, but court filings show Mrs. Hamm is fighting for what could be billions of dollars.

L. Vance Brown, who was appointed by the court to help resolve disputes over discovery in the divorce case, said in court filings that from Mrs. Hamm's perspective, every action Mr. Hamm took while at the helm of Continental, including "time, effort, skills or funds were critical to the enhancement of value" of the company.

To guard his fortune, Mr. Hamm, will need to rebut that theory, said Scott Johnson, a lawyer in Tulsa, Okla., who specializes in family law but isn't involved in the Hamms' dispute.

As chairman and chief executive of Continental, *Mr. Hamm may be able to shield his stock gains if he successfully argues factors beyond his control—like high oil prices—are responsible for the company's spectacular returns*, according to Mr. Johnson.

"If something increases in value just due to the broader market, then it's not divisible," Mr. Johnson said. "But if a company grew because he chose to buy other leases, made business decisions that were key to its success, then yes, the court might be inclined to say he should split the value."

In court filings, Mr. Hamm disputes Mrs. Hamm's assertions and says she must prove she also contributed to the increased value of the company in order to lay claim to a share of it.

Continental spokeswoman Kristin Miskovsky said the case, which is slated to go to trial in July, is a private matter that hasn't had any impact or effect on the company's operations.

But that is not what Continental is contending in court filings. *Mrs. Hamm's legal team has ordered the company to produce more than 600,000 pages of documents as proof that Mr. Hamm's leadership, hiring and decision-making have directly resulted in Continental's stellar financial performance.* The company recently reported a 21% profit margin for 2013, earning $764 million on sales of $3.6 billion.

Continental said the requests for years' worth of paperwork and preparing dozens of workers and company directors for depositions caused "enormous disruptions and expense," according to court documents.

If Mr. Hamm loses his case, that would probably affect his ownership of Continental shares, analysts say.

"We think that Hamm might end up having to transfer or sell a portion of his shares to pay for a portion of the appreciation over his marriage," analysts with Heikkinen Energy Advisors in Houston said in a recent note to clients.

*Even if he sold half his shares or transferred them to Mrs. Hamm, Mr. Hamm would retain roughly 34% ownership of Continental. The current value of a 34% stake is about $7.6 billion.*

Some investors might cheer the idea of Mr. Hamm selling shares to raise funds for a divorce payout. Continental has a relatively small amount of publicly available stock—about 42 million shares—compared with other independent oil and gas companies.

In a February deposition excerpted in court filings, Continental director John McNabb said he didn't believe the company would change fundamentally, even if Mr. Hamm's stake dropped significantly, and that the company would find it easy to continue to get financing.

"My assumption is that these banks will be delighted to keep working with Continental," he said. "I don't really care about Oklahoma divorce law."

Write to Tom Fowler at tom.fowler@wsj.com

----------


## bradh

Women...


(just kidding)

----------


## Teo9969

He wouldn't need to sell half his shares. But even if he did, having a 34% stake in a public company is only one-step removed from complete control, and every percentage point closer to 50% makes it that much more difficult for external influence on the company, because all that external influence has to have the same vision for change overall…and between 20 different entities, that just isn't going to happen.

----------


## PWitty

> Night before last Hamm was on Mad Money and Jim Cramer was pretty ga-ga over Hamm and Continental in general.


Cramer is a bozo. He was one of CHK and AM's biggest advocates even when they were doing all the wrong things. He is right about Continental though.

----------


## ou48A

Suggested reading on CLR

If this is any indication the CLR future looks preety bright...
I suppose CLR could eventually be bought out and moved..... 
but one thing they can't take away from us is the SCOOP that's talked about on the link.

Where Can You Find the Next ExxonMobil?

----------


## ou48A

CLR stock just hit 130 today.
Wish I had more.

----------


## catch22

> CLR stock just hit 130 today.
> Wish I had more.


A lot of technical analysts say it is overbought at the 128-132 range. I'd expect it to back off some, and retrace back into the 118-125 range.

----------


## Pete

Harold Hamm: The Billionaire Oilman Fueling America's Recovery - Forbes




> Listen to Harold Hamm and you leave convinced that America’s great shale energy boom is still in its infancy. There are enough natural gas reserves, he says, to allow America self-sufficiency for the next 200 years. As for oil, he says North Dakota’s Bakken field alone will “absolutely” double output to 2 million barrels per day, a bullish prediction no other industry leader will touch.





> When Hamm begins small-talking McClendon’s wife, McClendon himself leans over to a FORBES reporter in a fit of pique. “I don’t get it,” he whispers. “You write all this bad stuff about me, while you hold up Harold Hamm as some paragon of virtue.”

----------


## Plutonic Panda

Where does Harold Hamm live?

----------


## Pete

> Where does Harold Hamm live?


He has a huge mansion in Nichols Hills.

Bought it when his company was still HQ'd in Enid.

----------


## Plutonic Panda

Ok cool. Didn't know if he lived inside Oklahoma County or not. Awesome to hear!

----------


## Pete

This is pretty stunning:




> Hamm points out his head count: 950 versus Devon’s 6,000 and Chesapeake’s 11,000. Yet Continental’s market capitalization, at $23 billion, is just a tad under Devon’s–and already well ahead of Chesapeake’s

----------


## HangryHippo

I hope Continental continues to do well for a long, long time here in OKC.  And I hope they need new a new office tower downtown soon.

----------


## ou48A

This article really does a great job of showing why CLR has been a very well managed company. 

People who knew the industry knew in the early 2000's that CHK business methods did not bold well for its long term future. 
Operating his business as efficiently as possible has been a trade mark of Harold Hamm. 
His upbringing and early business struggles no doubt taught him the value of efficiency and tight control on cost.

----------


## ou48A

> This is pretty stunning:






> Hamm points out his head count: 950 versus Devons 6,000 and Chesapeakes 11,000. Yet Continentals market capitalization, at $23 billion, is just a tad under Devonsand already well ahead of Chesapeakes



I already knew there was a big difference.
This just goes to show there is far more to know about a companys performance than how many employees they have.... Particularly in their HQ home.. 
How efficiently employees are employed compared to their competitors in their industry sector is one thing I look for. 
This can sometimes best be seen by the rate of return on capitol.
For example of the major integrated oil companys XOM and in spite of their huge size has the industrys best rate of return on capitol. 
This is an indication of how well run a company is IMHO.

----------


## onthestrip

"When Hamm begins small-talking McClendons wife, McClendon himself leans over to a FORBES reporter in a fit of pique. I dont get it, he whispers. You write all this bad stuff about me, while you hold up Harold Hamm as some paragon of virtue.

Haha, maybe because Hamm is more concerned with actual oil and not spending shareholders money on ridiculous things or self dealing.

You gotta think CLR will be building a new OKC headquarters soon

----------


## ou48A

> You gotta think CLR will be building a new OKC headquarters soon



If he holds true to form Hamm will do whatever is most cost effective.

----------


## Urbanized

> "When Hamm begins small-talking McClendon’s wife, McClendon himself leans over to a FORBES reporter in a fit of pique. “I don’t get it,” he whispers. “You write all this bad stuff about me, while you hold up Harold Hamm as some paragon of virtue.”...


Ouch. I doubt Aubrey thought he was saying that on-the-record. I'll bet he doesn't have any more unguarded moments with that particular reporter in the future.

----------


## Pete

What's more surprising is McClendon saying "I don't get it".

Does he really not understand the difference between him and Hamm?   Especially the part about CLR's wild success and Hamm maintaining control of 70% of the company, while Aubrey nearly bankrupted CHK, was fired and squandered 95% of his personal stake in the company.

And Hamm buying a hand-me-down building (he paid for it personally) from Devon while AKM was spending other people's money like a drunken sailor?

----------


## ou48A

Based on his history I'm not sure AKM gets the concept of fiduciary responsibility?

----------


## Pete

This is a photo of that exact moment with Hamm, McClendon, McClendon's wife, and the Forbes reporter.

Thanks to Bellaboo for the shot:

----------


## Dubya61

Aren't McClendon and Hamm running oil companies from entirely different perspectives, though?  I'll admit that all I know about Chesapeake (and now AEP) and CLR comes from OKC Talk and I've got a poor memory, but isn't AKM running a mineral rights company while HH is running a petroleum company?

----------


## Bellaboo

> Aren't McClendon and Hamm running oil companies from entirely different perspectives, though?  I'll admit that all I know about Chesapeake (and now AEP) and CLR comes from OKC Talk and I've got a poor memory, but isn't AKM running a mineral rights company while HH is running a petroleum company?


The are both E&P, McClendon's firm, American Energy Partners just recently bought all of Calyx Energies interest in Payne County and is drilling the Woodford Shale as we speak.

----------


## Dubya61

> The are both E&P, McClendon's firm, American Energy Partners just recently bought all of Calyx Energies interest in Payne County and is drilling the Woodford Shale as we speak.


Let's pretend I know absolutely nothing (JTF, Jersey Boss and onthestrip are there already, right, guys?).  What's E&P?

----------


## DoctorTaco

> Aren't McClendon and Hamm running oil companies from entirely different perspectives, though?  I'll admit that all I know about Chesapeake (and now AEP) and CLR comes from OKC Talk and I've got a poor memory, but isn't AKM running a mineral rights company while HH is running a petroleum company?


Broadly speaking you are right. CHK under AKM was more of a speculation company. Lease the mineral rights, drill to prove and then flip the property. Continental is more old-school: drill, pump, produce, sell.

----------


## ou48A

"Tom Steyer, the San Francisco billionaire who founded Farallon Capital and has now pledged $100 million to back progressive politicians. To Hamm he’s “the world’s biggest hypocrite,” as he rails against the fact that Steyer made his fortune, in part, by investing in fossil fuels. Hamm sees the antifracking crowd in dollar terms, funded by investors in green energy innovations rendered uneconomical.

* “That’s why these guys are raising so much hell, because suddenly they realize that everything they’ve invested in isn’t going to work,” says Hamm. “They know they’re misleading the public.”*

----------


## Bellaboo

> Let's pretend I know absolutely nothing (JTF, Jersey Boss and onthestrip are there already, right, guys?).  What's E&P?


Exploration and Production

----------


## betts

> This is a photo of that exact moment with Hamm, McClendon, McClendon's wife, and the Forbes reporter.
> 
> Thanks to Bellaboo for the shot:


The man Aubrey is talking to looks like Scott Brooks.

----------


## Pete

> The man Aubrey is talking to looks like Scott Brooks.


It's the Forbes reporter, Christopher Helman:

----------


## Bellaboo

> The man Aubrey is talking to looks like Scott Brooks.


This was at halftime, Brooks was with the team in the locker room at this point. But yes, he does look like Scott Brooks.

----------


## Pete

You can see the reporter better in this shot (from Bellaboo):

----------


## Urbanized

Lessee...fly to a city, get wined and dined...sit courtside at NBA games with team owners and CEOs of Fortune 500 (sorry Forbes) companies (OK, Aubrey isn't RIGHT NOW), drink free booze...chat 'em up "say, you're not such a bad guy after all! And I love what you've done with the place!"... wait for 'em to screw up, and then...WHAMMY! Nice gig. How do I get one like that?

----------


## Pete

Usually, big publications like Forbes will not let their reporters accept free drinks and meals or any other perks from the subjects of their stories.

Not sure how they handled the Thunder game but I bet Forbes paid Hamm the face value of the ticket.

----------


## soonerguru

What on earth was Aubrey thinking? And what a snake to dis Hamm like that in his presence.

----------


## Urbanized

> Usually, big publications like Forbes will not let their reporters accept free drinks and meals or any other perks from the subjects of their stories.
> 
> Not sure how they handled the Thunder game but I bet Forbes paid Hamm the face value of the ticket.


Well, if they did that was a good deal anyway. They got a fifty thousand dollar quote. And that was from a guy who wasn't even the subject of the story.

----------


## ou48A

A great read on CLR.... Published yesterday

Click for long full article
Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR) news: Continental Resources: Leading Energy Stocks To Replace Biotech This Year - Seeking Alpha

Looking at the company's production growth, 71% was oil coming primarily from the Bakken and SCOOP (South Central Oklahoma Oil Province) reserves. *Continental estimates the SCOOP reserve could contain as much as 70 billion barrels of oil, even bigger than the Bakken with only 24 billion barrels of recoverable oil.* SCOOP is considered one of the top emerging plays in the U.S.* Harold Hamm refers to SCOOP as the company's "stealth play."*

 Continental is also very optimistic about its SCOOP reserve. Continental's wells there produced 23,760 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter of 2013 for a 233% increase YOY. Its location is also not far from existing pipelines and a major storage hub in Cushing. Unlike Bakken oil, it does not need to rely on rail for transport.

----------


## BG918

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the SCOOP involve really deep wells?  I'm not in the industry but I have heard that could impact its potential if oil prices begin to fall because of the high cost of drilling so deep.  It would be great for the state though so I hope it realizes its potential.  Once gas drilling becomes viable again there are even larger portions of the state that will benefit.

----------


## ou48A

> Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the SCOOP involve really deep wells?  I'm not in the industry but I have heard that could impact its potential if oil prices begin to fall because of the high cost of drilling so deep.  It would be great for the state though so I hope it realizes its potential.  Once gas drilling becomes viable again there are even larger portions of the state that will benefit.


They are deeper and thus more costly but I believe I heard that they have a tendency to not decline as quickly as some wells in other locations.

If Hamm is correct in his assessment the SCOOP play would probably be the biggest thing that's ever happened economically in Oklahoma... but very few seem grasp what this would mean and how it would benefit our state. That's if Hamm is correct?

----------


## adaniel

Isn't the SCOOP sort of Grady/Garvin/Carter/Love Counties? I have seen a lot of differing maps. 

If it is even half of what they are saying it could be a massive boom for OK and OKC. I was surprised last time I was driving back to Dallas at night and saw several drilling rigs north of Marietta.

----------


## BG918

It extends from near Tuttle down to Marietta with Lindsay as the epicenter.

----------


## Bellaboo

I have a friend who lives west of Blanchard. He has 1,100 acres and 13 wells from the early 1980's. He was recently notified that they were coming back in to drill horizontal on his farms. I believe this is in the SCOOP play.

----------


## mugofbeer

Not sure if thread appropriate or if already dicusssed but CNN reports that the Hamm divorce may be the biggest settlement in history.  Apparently no prenup so even if she gets 1/4, it will be the biggest.. Appologize if old news.

----------


## zookeeper

> Not sure if thread appropriate or if already dicusssed but CNN reports that the Hamm divorce may be the biggest settlement in history.  Apparently no prenup so even if she gets 1/4, it will be the biggest.. Appologize if old news.


If I'm not mistaken, that was reported back when they were first getting divorced. But they reconciled only for it to not work out after all. So, it's news again.

----------


## Pete

The divorce trial has started.

Reuters is reporting Sue Ann Hamm is seeking to split $17.6 billion of Hamm's fortune, which is almost his entire net worth, as it is currently estimated at $18.9 million by Forbes.

Exclusive - Wife defines stakes in Oklahoma divorce: $17 billion | Reuters

----------


## dankrutka

Just curious, is Sue Ann Hamm a native Oklahoman? Is she likely to stay in the OKC area after the divorce? What's her profession? Is she a philanthropist? Just curious.

----------


## Pete

She received both her bachelor's (1977) and law (1980) degrees from the U of Tulsa.

So, she's lived in the state at least at least since 1973; 40+ years. 

Not sure where she grew up, but her bio from OCU (where she was/is on the faculty) says she started working in the oil industry in high school, so that sounds like Oklahoma or Texas to me.

----------


## HangryHippo

> The divorce trial has started.
> 
> Reuters is reporting Sue Ann Hamm is seeking to split $17.6 billion of Hamm's fortune, which is almost his entire net worth, as it is currently estimated at $18.9 million by Forbes.
> 
> Exclusive - Wife defines stakes in Oklahoma divorce: $17 billion | Reuters


Sweet Jesus, this is going to be a monster settlement.

----------


## Pete

I believe the previous largest divorce settlement was $1.7 billion so this could surpass that.

But just because she's asking for virtually half his net worth doesn't mean she'll get it.

But I bet the settlement will set a record.

----------


## hoya

Does she happen to be on the lookout for a younger man upon whom she can spend her fortune?  Cuz I'm single.

----------


## mugofbeer

Bet SHE gets a prenup.   :Smile:

----------


## Plutonic Panda

> Does she happen to be on the lookout for a younger man upon whom she can spend her fortune?  Cuz I'm single.


I feel you on that!

----------


## lasomeday

> Does she happen to be on the lookout for a younger man upon whom she can spend her fortune?  Cuz I'm single.


Yes she is seeing a much younger professor from a nearby university.

----------


## catch22

> Yes she is seeing a much younger professor from a nearby university.


I only told her I was a professor.

----------


## soonerguru

> Sweet Jesus, this is going to be a monster settlement.


Can you imagine how much money the attorneys will clear?

----------


## HangryHippo

Is something besides Hamm's divorce going on at Continental?

Continental Resources president resigns | News OK




> Bott is the second executive to leave Continental in the past few months.
> 
> Rick Muncrief, the companys former senior vice president of operations and resource development, left in May to become CEO of Tulsa-based WPX Energy.

----------


## Pete

"Left to pursue other opportunities" is usually a euphemism for being fired.

Bott was only there a couple of years -- his hiring clearly didn't work out for some reason.

CLR is still blowing and going.

----------


## Bellaboo

> "Left to pursue other opportunities" is usually a euphemism for being fired.
> 
> Bott was only there a couple of years -- his hiring clearly didn't work out for some reason.
> 
> CLR is still blowing and going.


CLR had a 2 for 1 stock split today. Date of record was September 3.

----------


## OkieNate

> CLR had a 2 for 1 stock split today. Date of record was September 3.


What is the reason or purpose for this?

----------


## rlewis

Companies split stock in order to keep the price of each share lower.  It makes it more attractive to smaller investors.  Once the price of a company's stock goes over $100,  studies have shown that smaller investors tend to shy away from the purchase.  Lower per share stock prices also make it cheaper for companies that give stock to their employees as compensation, and/or fund the retirement or pension plans with stock.  Continental's stock had been hovering around $150/share for quite a while now.

----------


## sooner88

> What is the reason or purpose for this?


By splitting the stock and lowering the stock price to ~$70 it broadens the range of investors for CLR and should help them keep their growth movement going.

----------


## HangryHippo

> "Left to pursue other opportunities" is usually a euphemism for being fired.
> 
> Bott was only there a couple of years -- his hiring clearly didn't work out for some reason.
> 
> CLR is still blowing and going.


Weird.  I saw where a few analysts had written reports saying he was doing a great job.  He hadn't been there very long.  Just seems odd.

----------


## TheTravellers

Revised company history may help oil baron avoid record divorce payout

Sleazy, if it's true.......

----------


## turnpup

Interesting stuff.

What must the monthly legal fees be like for both parties!

----------


## Teo9969

> Revised company history may help oil baron avoid record divorce payout
> 
> Sleazy, if it's true.......


Sleazier still is a person who thinks they ought to be entitled to someone else's stock to whom they are clearly uncommitted, when the other person bought that stock did so 20 years before the marriage even began.

----------


## Pete

Continental just reported it's numbers as part of a job incentives plan.

As of June 2014, they had 689 employees in OKC.

They added 334 in the last 12 months alone up from 192 the previous year.  Average salary for the 334 jobs was over $200K.

----------


## Pete

You could make a very good argument that 334 jobs at $200K is more valuable than 1,336 at $50K.

And if someone added 1,336 jobs at $50K in one year, everyone would be celebrating it as a watershed economic event.

Just a little perspective on what Continental has brought to OKC in their own, relatively quiet way.

----------


## Plutonic Panda

Continental forms joint venture with South Korean firm to develop Oklahoma acreage | News OK

----------


## Plutonic Panda

Oklahoma City-based Continental bets on higher oil prices | News OK

----------


## DoctorTaco

> Oklahoma City-based Continental bets on higher oil prices | News OK


Selling your hedges is a bold move. For context, Devon has something like 40% of its production hedged. Goin 100% unhedged is working without a net. 

A similar gamble on natural gas prices is what ultimately brought down Aubrey McClendon at CHK. Aubrey sold all of CHK's gas hedges going into the winter of 2011-2012, gambling that prices would come up. When that winter was warmer than average and gas prices not only stayed low but dropped, it killed CHK's profitability. 

Whatever else people were mad at Aubrey about, had that gamble went the other way for him the man would still be at Chesapeake. 

Let's hope that Harold Hamm has better luck with his gamble.

----------


## BillyOcean

onions!

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Selling your hedges is a bold move. For context, Devon has something like 40% of its production hedged. Goin 100% unhedged is working without a net. 
> 
> A similar gamble on natural gas prices is what ultimately brought down Aubrey McClendon at CHK. Aubrey sold all of CHK's gas hedges going into the winter of 2011-2012, gambling that prices would come up. When that winter was warmer than average and gas prices not only stayed low but dropped, it killed CHK's profitability. 
> 
> Whatever else people were mad at Aubrey about, had that gamble went the other way for him the man would still be at Chesapeake. 
> 
> Let's hope that Harold Hamm has better luck with his gamble.


Hamm is pretty conservative so I'm definitely more optimistic about this than when McClendon went naked on natural gas a few years ago. The fact that oil has much more global demand should help as well in this case.

----------


## Pete

Continental CEO Harold Hamm ordered to pay $995 million in divorce

Continental CEO Harold Hamm ordered to pay $995 million in divorce
Reuters 
10 minutes ago

(Reuters) - An Oklahoma County judge has ordered oil magnate and Continental Resources Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm to pay nearly $1 billion in a divorce judgment, according to a court filing made public on Monday.

Special Judge Howard Haralson found that Hamm should pay his ex-wife Sue Ann Hamm a total of $995.5 million, with about a third of the funds, or $322.7 million, to be paid by the end of the year, the filing says.

Hamm will then be required to pay the rest of the judgment, some $650 million, in installments worth at least $7 million per month, the filing says. Sue Ann Hamm has already been awarded around $25 million since the case was filed in 2012, the filing says.

To secure the judgment, Judge Haralson has placed a lien on 20 million shares of Continental stock, the filing says.

The ruling, which is subject to appeal, comes after a 9-1/2 week divorce trial ended last month.

(Reporting By Joshua Schneyer)

----------


## Pete

This is actually a pretty favorable ruling for Harold.

His net worth is about $20 billion and about $17 B was being contested.


Time to move on and build that tower!

----------


## Teo9969

I think Hamm must feel quite the relief at this point. I'd think Continental shareholders feel similarly.

Though he is a notoriously frugal man, I bet he will handsomely reward his legal staff. That's a hell of win.

----------


## Pete

He has to pay $323 million by the end of the year, then $7 million a month until he reaches the $995 million; that will give him 8 years to pay off the balance.

His net worth increased about $3 billion in just the last year.  That equates to over $8 million a DAY.

----------


## blangtang

He gets to keep his hand tools, too.  Good for him  :Smile:

----------


## blangtang

to add some context:

“In the last minutes of the trial,” Hamm “requested that he be awarded certain family pictures, a few books, guns, shotguns, some pictures, geode in quartz display and his hand tools,” according to the divorce papers. 

Continental Chief Hamm Must Pay $972 Million in Divorce - Bloomberg

----------


## Laramie

> He gets to keep his hand tools, too.  Good for him


 Please don't elaborate on that...  

 Harold Hamm will rebound; this is just a bump in the road,  he has the foundation that will allow him to  move on to bigger and better things.

----------


## hoya

Anna Nicole Smith style bigger and better?  :Smile:

----------


## ljbab728

A not unexpected fly in the ointment of that decision.

Harold Hamm's ex-wife to appeal $1 billion divorce | NewsOK.com

----------


## catch22

Seems like the announcement of removing all hedges last week was good. Now that OPEC Has decided to continue drilling despite low oil prices, all shale companies (CLR SD KOG etc.) are getting slammed today. CLR is down 20% today and SandRidge is down 27%. Prolonged oil prices at these levels will be a pretty big blow to the US economy.

----------


## Plutonic Panda

Harold Hamm's ex-wife to continue appeal despite cashing $974M check | News OK

----------


## Naptown12713

Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) is making a big buy in the Bakken shale with the planned purchase of Oklahoma-based Hiland Partners:

Kinder Morgan makes $3 billion Bakken acquisition of Hiland Partners - Houston Business Journal

----------


## Pete

^

That is one of Harold Hamm's companies based in Enid.

A cool $3 billion for Mr. Hamm.

----------


## OUGrad05

> Seems like the announcement of removing all hedges last week was good. Now that OPEC Has decided to continue drilling despite low oil prices, all shale companies (CLR SD KOG etc.) are getting slammed today. CLR is down 20% today and SandRidge is down 27%. Prolonged oil prices at these levels will be a pretty big blow to the US economy.


Removing those hedges was a horrible move.  NOT a good call.

----------


## Bellaboo

Harold Hamm on flashpoint this morning. 1,150 employees for CLR, 250 of those in the Bakken field in North Dakota and Montana. I presume the majority of the remaining 900 are in Oklahoma.

He stated to curb costs they would continue to drill but not complete wells, would also reduce production (and the glut to an extent).

He said that $60 - $70 a barrel oil would return horizontal drilling to profitability.

----------


## ljbab728

An interesting new interview by Adam Wilmoth with Harold Hamm.

Continental's Harold Hamm sees brighter days coming for the oil industry | NewsOK.com

----------


## mimino

Oklahoma high court favors Continental CEO Hamm in $1B divorce case - Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR) | Seeking Alpha

She "only" got a billion...

----------


## Pete

This is good news for Hamm and Continental because the ruling basically says that only Hamm can appeal the $1B settlement; his ex-wife waived that right when she cashed the check.

So, there will be no further exposure to Hamm/Continental.

----------


## onthestrip

> This is good news for Hamm and Continental because the ruling basically says that only Hamm can appeal the $1B settlement; his ex-wife waived that right when she cashed the check.
> 
> So, there will be no further exposure to Hamm/Continental.


Seems that the deck is stacked against Sue Ann when she cant appeal but Harold still can? Something sounds wrong with that. If she waives her right to appeal when she cashes the check, then it seems Harold should too.

However, I would think that Hamm should let it go. There is probably some judges out there that might think he owes more than the $1bil.

----------


## Bellaboo

> Seems that the deck is stacked against Sue Ann when she cant appeal but Harold still can? Something sounds wrong with that. If she waives her right to appeal when she cashes the check, then it seems Harold should too.
> 
> However, I would think that Hamm should let it go. There is probably some judges out there that might think he owes more than the $1bil.


This explains the courts ruling   -

Continental CEO's ex-wife loses divorce appeal

Sounds like Harold had better Attorneys than Sue Ann maybe ?

----------


## Pete

Oil CEO Wanted University Quake Scientists Dismissed: Dean's E-Mail - Bloomberg Business

----------


## Pete

This editorial says Boren is paid more than $400K per year to serve on the Continental board of directors:

Letter to the editor: Boren's involvement with Continental Resources board should be scrutinized - OUDaily.com: Opinion

----------


## jccouger

And I was the one scrutinized by saying oil companies are unethical lol

----------


## PhiAlpha

> And I was the one scrutinized by saying oil companies are unethical lol


So becuase one oil company CEO does something unethical, all oil companies are unethical?

----------


## jccouger

Sandridge and Chesapeake don't mean anything to you? Both had ceos fired for being unethical. That's 3 of the top 4 biggest oil companies in our city that have been led by what appears to be very unethical leadership.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Sandridge and Chesapeake don't mean anything to you? Both had ceos fired for being unethical. That's 3 of the top 4 biggest oil companies in our city that have been led by what appears to be very unethical leadership.


And there are over 200 other oil companies based in or operating out of OKC and 1 out of 5 jobs in OKC are tied in some way tied to the energy industry. If we're playing odds, that's 3 out of 200 OKC energy companies and 3 out of over 100,000 people that are involved in the energy industry. So again, how do 3 CEOs make the entire energy industry unethical?

----------


## Just the facts

PhiAlpha - why do you assume the 196 other CEOs are ethical?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> PhiAlpha - why do you assume the 196 other CEOs are ethical?


A) I know several of them personally and/or do work with them.
B) Why do you assume that all of them are unethical? Do you have evidence to the fact that all of them are unethical?

I'm sure some other energy industry CEOs in OKC have done things that are less than ethical, it's a list of 200 people, but that's hardly a phenomenon exclusive to the oil and gas industry. Regardless, the point of my post was that its wrong and unfair to label an entire industry unethical based on the actions of 3 people. What evidence do you have that the "oil and gas industry is unethical?" I run a division of my energy related company in OKC...am I unethical becuase I'm involved in the same industry as Harold Hamm, Tom Ward, and Aubrey McClendon?

----------


## Just the facts

> A) I know several of them personally and/or do work with them.
> B) Why do you assume that all of them are unethical? Do you have evidence to the fact that all of them are unethical?
> 
> I'm sure some other energy industry CEOs in OKC have done things that are less than ethical, it's a list of 200 people, but that's hardly a phenomenon exclusive to the oil and gas industry. Regardless, the point of my post was that its wrong and unfair to label an entire industry unethical based on the actions of 3 people. What evidence do you have that the "oil and gas industry is unethical?" I run a division of my energy related company in OKC...am I unethical becuase I'm involved in the same industry as Harold Hamm, Tom Ward, and Aubrey McClendon?


I am not saying they are unethical.  I assume everyone is a decent individual until I have reason to believe otherwise.  However, it seems to me that there are certain industries where 'doing the right thing' is the hard way to the top.  Wall Street Finance and Oil & Gas are at the top of that list in my book.  Much like the cronyism and incest that exists between Wall Street, the SEC, and Washington DC, that cronyism and incest is alive and well in Oklahoma - as proven by the Harold Hamm emails.  I mean come on - not only did he want the current people fired, he wanted to hand pick the replacements - and he is in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.  If there is any silver lining - the Dean at OU didn't act on this request.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I am not saying they are unethical.  I assume everyone is a decent individual until I have reason to believe otherwise.  However, it seems to me that there are certain industries where 'doing the right thing' is the hard way to the top.  Wall Street Finance and Oil & Gas are at the top of that list in my book.  Much like the cronyism and incest that exists between Wall Street, the SEC, and Washington DC, that cronyism and incest is alive and well in Oklahoma - as proven by the Harold Hamm emails.  I mean come on - not only did he want the current people fired, he wanted to hand pick the replacements - and he is in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.  If there is any silver lining - the Dean at OU didn't act on this request.


All of that may or may not be true, but that wasn't my argument. I took issue with JC's blanket characterization of the energy industry as unethical based on the actions of the CEOs of three companies out of the thousands of companies in the industry and hundreds of thousands of people that work in it. I never defended what Harold Hamm did nor did I say there were not unethical people in the industry. There are unethical CEOs and unethical employees in every industry, but that does not make every industry or every company or employee in every industry unethical. 

As far as cronyism goes, no doubt it is alive, but I would make the argument that it isn't that well based on the fact that David Boren and the Dean at OU didn't act on Hamm's request. The key is that he wanted the people fired...but it did not happen.

----------


## dankrutka

Honest question as I don't know enough about the industry to throw stones, but what about seemingly the entire industry's refusal to admit the obvious connections between fracking and earthquakes? It seemed almost no one in the industry was willing to honestly investigate/admit a serious public safety risk because it might risk profits... Just now it seems the industry is admitting what scientists have long been saying. No?

Again, I'm an outsider with limited knowledge, but that would seem to indicate a serious ethical problem within the industry?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Honest question as I don't know enough about the industry to throw stones, but what about seemingly the entire industry's refusal to admit the obvious connections between fracking and earthquakes? It seemed almost no one in the industry was willing to honestly investigate/admit a serious public safety risk because it might risk profits... Just now it seems the industry is admitting what scientists have long been saying. No?
> 
> Again, I'm an outsider with limited knowledge, but that would seem to indicate a serious ethical problem within the industry?


It is water disposal, not hydraulic fracturing that is believed to be responsible for many of he earthquakes. They are completely different processes. 

E&P companies have nothing to gain by admitting that their operations may have caused the earthquakes, especially before all of the research has concluded. There is just no benefit to that and it would be a borderline stupid business move to do so. Deciding who should be responsible is the corporation commission's job and that is starting to happen. Every company's operations are not causing them, and up until recently no one was completely sure who's operations were causing them and how/why they were causing them. As more and more of the results from the multitude of studies come to light, as they have over the last few months, you will start seeing more companies having to take responsibility for them (at least from an operational stand point). It is already happening now as companies like New Dominion and others are being forced to plug, plug back, or reduce disposal pressures on many of their disposal wells. For the most part operators are being cooperative in the research, but I wouldn't ever expect the companies themselves to openly admit that they're disposal wells played a roll in causing any of the earthquakes, it just opens them up to far too much legal risk. Could be wrong but I just don't see the upside to it.

----------


## zookeeper

> All of that may or may not be true, but that wasn't my argument. I took issue with JC's blanket characterization of the energy industry as unethical based on the actions of the CEOs of three companies out of the thousands of companies in the industry and hundreds of thousands of people that work in it. I never defended what Harold Hamm did nor did I say there were not unethical people in the industry. There are unethical CEOs and unethical employees in every industry, but that does not make every industry or every company or employee in every industry unethical. 
> 
> As far as cronyism goes, no doubt it is alive, but I would make the argument that it isn't that well based on the fact that David Boren and the Dean at OU didn't act on Hamm's request. The key is that he wanted the people fired...but it did not happen.


Everyone a few years out of college knows everything and has all the answers. That's part of "growing up" if you will. But you take this phenomenon to new heights. You don't have to have an answer for every negative post about the energy industry, Phi. 

Some of us have decades (too many) of experience watching how the Oil & Gas moguls have an entitlement mind in this state, and how they usually get their way. This stuff with Harold Hamm just goes to show - again - that millionaires and billionaires expect their money to influence decisions they have no business being involved in. From Robert S. Kerr on we have seen this in Oklahoma. Hamm's comment that he's going to contact Mary Fallin about having OU stripped of its position as host of the OGS is typical tycoon tyranny.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Everyone a few years out of college knows everything and has all the answers. That's part of "growing up" if you will. But you take this phenomenon to new heights. You don't have to have an answer for every negative post about the energy industry, Phi. 
> 
> Some of us have decades (too many) of experience watching how the Oil & Gas moguls have an entitlement mind in this state, and how they usually get their way. This stuff with Harold Hamm just goes to show - again - that millionaires and billionaires expect their money to influence decisions they have no business being involved in. From Robert S. Kerr on we have seen this in Oklahoma. Hamm's comment that he's going to contact Mary Fallin about having OU stripped of its position as host of the OGS is typical tycoon tyranny.


And according to your posts it would seem that people a few years out of school don't know anything and that people your age know everything almost infallibly. What I lack in age, I more than make up for in exposure to the industry. I'm sorry but there is nothing that you can post or send me in 4 page long private messages that will make me believe you have any more knowledge of the industry than I do. Despite what you seem to think, I'm well aware of the history of the oil and gas industry both in this state and abroad...good and bad. You don't have to personally live through every minute of history to understand it. Again, your posts prove that you are just as biased against the industry as I am toward it.

That's great that you've seen corruption in the energy industry, I never said that it doesn't exist and certainly have not said that there has never been corruption in the industry, but that also doesn't mean the entire industry and everyone in it is unethical which was the blanket claim I took issue with in JC's post. I never defended Harold Hamm's actions or said that he hasn't made unethical decisions, but that doesn't make the entire industry unethical.

I certainly don't have an answer to every negative post about the energy industry, nor do I claim to, but I almost always have a valid argument against them (especially the more off-base posts) from the industry supportive perspective, whether you agree with that argument or not.

----------


## jccouger

I shouldn't speak in absolute terms, I apologize for that. I also can't back up my statements and opinions with facts that show the oil and natural gas industry is anymore corrupt than any other industry. Wherever there is money to be made, There will be people who take advantage of that through unethical ways. For some reason or another it just seems as if the oil and natural gas industry draws more of these personality types than other industries. I also believe in general there are waaaaay more good people than corrupt, and I'm certain this absolutely remains true in the fossil fuel industry as well.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I shouldn't speak in absolute terms, I apologize for that. I also can't back up my statements and opinions with facts that show the oil and natural gas industry is anymore corrupt than any other industry. Wherever there is money to be made, There will be people who take advantage of that through unethical ways. For some reason or another it just seems as if the oil and natural gas industry draws more of these personality types than other industries. I also believe in general there are waaaaay more good people than corrupt, and I'm certain this absolutely remains true in the fossil fuel industry as well.


I agree with you for the most part but I would argue that it only seems like there are more of that type of person in the energy industry for a few reasons:

1) it's the dominant industry in the state
2) it's viewed controversial by the general public for a multitude of issues among them environmental and gasoline pricing (the latter is one few understand) 
3) It's viewed as controversial by the media and reported on from a negative prospective often, especially outside of the producing states. Generally you only hear about the energy industry when something bad happens or people are pissed about high gasoline prices. 
4) It's one of the least understood major industries by the public, especially outside of the major historic producing states and ironically probably has the biggest effect on the general public of any industry.

----------


## soonermike81

I'm a little ignorant to the subject, but aren't there other industries that use wastewater disposal wells?  If so, then how come earthquakes were never much of an issue before fracking, outside of along the normal fault line areas that we're used to?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I'm a little ignorant to the subject, but aren't there other industries that use wastewater disposal wells?  If so, then how come earthquakes were never much of an issue before fracking, outside of along the normal fault line areas that we're used to?


Yes, other industries do use disposal wells and there have been a few isolated incidences of those wells causing minor earthquakes, one of which was in Colorado in the 1950s or 60s. I can't speak with too much knowledge as to the water volumes that other industries dispose of, but I would assume that instances of induced earthquakes occur more often around oil and gas operations because of the higher water volumes and frequency that the oil and gas industry has to use to use disposal wells. In Oklahoma, an oil well produces on average 10 barrels of water per barrel of oil, so oil companies often have to drill disposal wells to handle the produced water from one or more wells, especially in higher water content plays like the Mississippi Lime and the Hunton Lime. If you have a 100 bopd well, you get 1,000 bbls of water (a barrel = 42 gallons) so you can imagine how much water is produced by several wells. Hook several wells up to one disposal well, and that is a tone of water to dispose of and in some cases it is injected at very high pressures and apparently too deep (according to the reports from the OGS a few weeks ago). 

Hydraulic fracturing has been around since the 1950s and disposal wells have been around at least that long, but horizontal drilling is relatively new. One of the theories as to why waste water disposal is causing earthquakes now when it didn't before (or didn't cause as many before), is that horizontal wells are producing more water than vertical wells had in the past and the increased water volume and increase in disposal wells being drilled is the culprit. I think we can also inject water at higher pressures now than previously and that may be part of it (not sure on that though). One of the issues with that theory is that operators were not required to keep injection volume records until the 1990s (after the previous major oil booms and before the latest one) which makes it difficult to prove.

----------


## dankrutka

> It is water disposal, not hydraulic fracturing that is believed to be responsible for many of he earthquakes. They are completely different processes. 
> 
> E&P companies have nothing to gain by admitting that their operations may have caused the earthquakes, especially before all of the research has concluded. There is just no benefit to that and it would be a borderline stupid business move to do so. Deciding who should be responsible is the corporation commission's job and that is starting to happen. Every company's operations are not causing them, and up until recently no one was completely sure who's operations were causing them and how/why they were causing them. As more and more of the results from the multitude of studies come to light, as they have over the last few months, you will start seeing more companies having to take responsibility for them (at least from an operational stand point). It is already happening now as companies like New Dominion and others are being forced to plug, plug back, or reduce disposal pressures on many of their disposal wells. For the most part operators are being cooperative in the research, but I wouldn't ever expect the companies themselves to openly admit that they're disposal wells played a roll in causing any of the earthquakes, it just opens them up to far too much legal risk. Could be wrong but I just don't see the upside to it.


Benefit? Upside? We're talking public safety. Your entire response is basically apologizing for an industry lacking ethics. An industry with ethics doesn't need a commission to tell them right or wrong. It should be proactive in protecting public safety. 

Devon was involved in shady politics during Denton's fracking ban vote. Is there a major energy company that hasn't been implicated in unethical practices in the last 5 years?

----------


## mimino

Talking about this Corp Commission(er)? lol http://www.thelostogle.com/2015/05/0...try-to-rescue/

----------


## zookeeper

> And according to your posts it would seem that people a few years out of school don't know anything and that people your age know everything almost infallibly. What I lack in age, I more than make up for in exposure to the industry. I'm sorry but there is nothing that you can post or send me in 4 page long private messages that will make me believe you have any more knowledge of the industry than I do. Despite what you seem to think, I'm well aware of the history of the oil and gas industry both in this state and abroad...good and bad. You don't have to personally live through every minute of history to understand it. Again, your posts prove that you are just as biased against the industry as I am toward it.
> 
> That's great that you've seen corruption in the energy industry, I never said that it doesn't exist and certainly have not said that there has never been corruption in the industry, but that also doesn't mean the entire industry and everyone in it is unethical which was the blanket claim I took issue with in JC's post. I never defended Harold Hamm's actions or said that he hasn't made unethical decisions, but that doesn't make the entire industry unethical.
> 
> I certainly don't have an answer to every negative post about the energy industry, nor do I claim to, but I almost always have a valid argument against them (especially the more off-base posts) from the industry supportive perspective, whether you agree with that argument or not.


Phi, Please. I sent you *one* private message about the selective attacks. It was* one paragraph* with a salutation and "have a good day."

I also disagree with you saying I am just as biased against the industry as you are for it. When good things happen, I am glad. (I've mentioned my own mineral rights checks!) I think age and experience in life _does_ give one a certain latitudinal license to analyze things in our economy, culture, etc. that you couldn't possibly understand because you're right out of college.

For example, you claim this and that is "off base" all the time. Yet, they usually aren't off base at all - they are only a different opinion than one would hold who has hopes of climbing the rope up in the industry.

But telling me to "grow up" hit a nerve with me and that's why I went off-board and sent you a private message. You make it sound sinister.

Such irony here at times.

----------


## zookeeper

> Benefit? Upside? We're talking public safety. Your entire response is basically apologizing for an industry lacking ethics. An industry with ethics doesn't need a commission to tell them right or wrong. It should be proactive in protecting public safety. 
> 
> Devon was involved in shady politics during Denton's fracking ban vote. Is there a major energy company that hasn't been implicated in unethical practices in the last 5 years?


Thank you, Dan. Well said.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Phi, Please. I sent you *one* private message about the selective attacks. It was* one paragraph* with a salutation and "have a good day."
> 
> I also disagree with you saying I am just as biased against the industry as you are for it. When good things happen, I am glad. (I've mentioned my own mineral rights checks!) I think age and experience in life _does_ give one a certain latitudinal license to analyze things in our economy, culture, etc. that you couldn't possibly understand because you're right out of college.
> 
> For example, you claim this and that is "off base" all the time. Yet, they usually aren't off base at all - they are only a different opinion than one would hold who has hopes of climbing the rope up in the industry.
> 
> But telling me to "grow up" hit a nerve with me and that's why I went off-board and sent you a private message. You make it sound sinister.
> 
> Such irony here at times.


And calling everyone that thinks differently than you do "brainwashed" hit a nerve with me so I told you to grow up...it goes both ways. Ok maybe your not as biased against the industry as I am for it, but you most certainly are as biased against corporate America in general as I am toward the energy industry. 

Yes claiming the entire energy industry is unethical and that everyone that disagrees with you in this state has been brainwashed is offbase.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Benefit? Upside? We're talking public safety. Your entire response is basically apologizing for an industry lacking ethics. An industry with ethics doesn't need a commission to tell them right or wrong. It should be proactive in protecting public safety. 
> 
> Devon was involved in shady politics during Denton's fracking ban vote. Is there a major energy company that hasn't been implicated in unethical practices in the last 5 years?


I said I don't think they will come out and claim responsibility until the research proves who is directly responsible becuase there is no legal upside to it. Also I said I'm not sure that the companies responsible will ever admit to causing them do to the lack of legal upside to it (I should have specified that I meant legal upside). Energy companies are cooperating with the research efforts and when the responsible parties are proven to be responsible, I'm sure they will do everything possible to stop causing he earthquakes and potentially help pay for property damages, but I just don't expect there to be a huge press conference where everyone claims responsibility. I could be wrong and don't take that for me apologizing for the industry...when the responsible parties are determined, I think they should admit responsibility, pay for property damages, and do everything possible to mitigate future risk, I just don't know what will happen...it's almost completely unprecedented. The corporation commission will inact regulations to mitigate future risk when they figure what needs to be done...which they appear to be getting closer to. They don't need a commission to tell them right or wrong, but they aren't going to admit to wrong doing with out proof that they are responsible. 

I didnt follow the Denton fracking ban very closely, but from what I saw, Devon, XTO, other energy companies, and local mineral owners spent a ton of money funding the campaign against the fracking ban. Those against oil and gas development and/or fracking may consider that unethical, but I don't really understand why. If I remember correctly the campaign supporting the fracking ban was funded by several major environmental organizations...not sure how that is any different. At any rate, that ban will undoubtedly be overturned as it is not within the city's rights to ban oil and gas activity, those rights belong to the state and even then there are constitutionality issues involved when it comes to preventing mineral owners from developing their property. It will cost Denton a ton of money and they will be fighting the state of Texas, every energy company in the area, and the area mineral owners. It will go down like several of the cases in Colorado and New Mexico...it will cost the city a ton of money to fight a battle they have no chance of winning.

----------


## zookeeper

> And calling everyone that thinks differently than you do "brainwashed" hit a nerve with me so I told you to grow up...it goes both ways. Ok maybe your not as biased against the industry as I am for it, but you most certainly are as biased against corporate America in general as I am toward the energy industry. 
> 
> Yes claiming the entire energy industry is unethical and that everyone that disagrees with you in this state has been brainwashed is offbase.


You didn't mention that in my very next post I wrote, _"You are right about the tone of that post. I should not have used the word, "brainwashed," as it is a bit incendiary."_ 

Biased against Corporate America? I am an economic populist and believe in labor equality with capital. I believe in (and I am simplifying) the "greater good" before profits. I believe in ethics before profits. Just because something is legal doesn't make it ethical. I believe in actually revoking corporate charters if and when necessary. Ending corporate "personhood." I very much believe that the excessive CEO (actually top tier management) salaries that run 500-1 more than the average worker they are leading must be halted - and golden parachutes ended completely. I believe in SEC reform that embraces these principles. I believe in reform at the Fed that would actually make monetary policy for the good Main Street instead of being owned and operated by, and a revolving door with, Wall Street. So, if that makes me "biased" against Corporate America, then so be it.

We're very different, PhiAlpha. It doesn't make me "off base" or you a demon. We have different political and cultural values. Yet, there are probably many things we probably agree on. But I do not apologize for my economic views, because I think they are based on something that is more sustainable than greed, avarice, and the drive for more and more and more for the top brass, which leads to a concentration of wealth and an America our founders never imagined.

Call me whatever you like, but the above is what I'm about -- without apology.

----------


## dankrutka

> I said I don't think they will come out and claim responsibility until the research proves who is directly responsible becuase there is no legal upside to it. Also I said I'm not sure that the companies responsible will ever admit to causing them do to the lack of legal upside to it (I should have specified that I meant legal upside). Energy companies are cooperating with the research efforts and when the responsible parties are proven to be responsible, I'm sure they will do everything possible to stop causing he earthquakes and potentially help pay for property damages, but I just don't expect there to be a huge press conference where everyone claims responsibility. I could be wrong and don't take that for me apologizing for the industry...when the responsible parties are determined, I think they should admit responsibility, pay for property damages, and do everything possible to mitigate future risk, I just don't know what will happen...it's almost completely unprecedented. The corporation commission will inact regulations to mitigate future risk when they figure what needs to be done...which they appear to be getting closer to. They don't need a commission to tell them right or wrong, but they aren't going to admit to wrong doing with out proof that they are responsible. 
> 
> I didnt follow the Denton fracking ban very closely, but from what I saw, Devon, XTO, other energy companies, and local mineral owners spent a ton of money funding the campaign against the fracking ban. Those against oil and gas development and/or fracking may consider that unethical, but I don't really understand why. If I remember correctly the campaign supporting the fracking ban was funded by several major environmental organizations...not sure how that is any different. At any rate, that ban will undoubtedly be overturned as it is not within the city's rights to ban oil and gas activity, those rights belong to the state and even then there are constitutionality issues involved when it comes to preventing mineral owners from developing their property. It will cost Denton a ton of money and they will be fighting the state of Texas, every energy company in the area, and the area mineral owners. It will go down like several of the cases in Colorado and New Mexico...it will cost the city a ton of money to fight a battle they have no chance of winning.


First, there seems to be clear evidence that the energy companies have NOT cooperated with researchers, but repeatedly discounted the research or played dumb. With public safety, companies should always be on the safe side. Period. The energy companies have been unethical. They should have led the efforts to investigate it, not wait for proof on every individual case. 

Second, the fracking ban was not organized or funded by environmental groups, but by local citizens who were being ignored by the energy companies. Numerous residents repeatedly pleaded with energy companies to quit drilling right next to their houses, which was causing physical and water damage that made the homes unlivable. After repeated attempts at compromise, a group of citizens started the fracking ban campaign. It was a clear example of the industry being unethical. Doesn't matter because the energy companies got the Texas state house to take away the rights of local citizens to enact their own laws, which is obviously hypocritical for supposed small government politicians... But money spoke louder than democracy. 

I have no stakes in any if this, but the energy industry has clear systemic ethical problems. It's resulted in Oklahoma dealing with thousands of earthquakes and no one taking responsibility. It's really quite alarming.

----------


## ljbab728

Harold Hamm has released a statement denying his involvement in trying to influence some recently reported events.

Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm says he didn?t seek ouster of OGS staff | NewsOK.com




> Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm on Tuesday denied reports claiming he asked for Oklahoma Geological Survey staff to be removed because of the way they addressed the state’s ongoing earthquake swarm.

----------


## gopokes88

You guys are 2 sides of the same coin. 

No different then Harry Reid ranting and raving about the evils of super-pacs and how the Koch brothers are destroying America while simultaneously taking huge amounts of money from George Soros or tom Steyer. 

Or republicans that slam big government but won't agree to even a penny in defense cuts. 

And stop with the BS that O&G attracts unethical and blah blah blah. I've worked in finance, insurance, alcohol, O&G and construction. Guess what? Every single one is just dirty as the other.  Life lives in the gray. Get off your moral high horse, cause if you don't someone will eventually make you.

----------


## mimino

> You guys are 2 sides of the same coin. 
> 
> No different then Harry Reid ranting and raving about the evils of super-pacs and how the Koch brothers are destroying America while simultaneously taking huge amounts of money from George Soros or tom Steyer. 
> 
> Or republicans that slam big government but won't agree to even a penny in defense cuts. 
> 
> And stop with the BS that O&G attracts unethical and blah blah blah. I've worked in finance, insurance, alcohol, O&G and construction. Guess what? Every single one is just dirty as the other.  Life lives in the gray. Get off your moral high horse, cause if you don't someone will eventually make you.


So you're saying we should just let "morals" go out the door and let businesses do whatever they can "legally" do in the grey zone? I suppose that will support your point of various industries being just as dirty as the rest. At what point will means justify the ends, though? 
Your first argument fails, because commenters here were not indulged in a hypocritical debates on other (ethical) issues, or have they? The second part is just an excuse for corporate profits. Amiright? 
It seems like everyone can see so clearly thru all the BS, but nobody is doing anything about it. It's much easier to have these perpetual virtual debates instead.

----------


## Just the facts

Bill Clinton would be proud.

Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm says he didn?t seek ouster of OGS staff | NewsOK.com




> “Since, as you pointed out, the mission of the USGS is to provide for the development of the natural resources in Oklahoma, particularly oil and gas, I strongly feel that your search committee should include a representative from the oil and gas industry,” Hamm wrote in the email, apparently mistakenly referring to the U.S. Geological Survey rather than the Oklahoma Geological Survey. “I would be interested and willing to sit on your search committee.”
> 
> Hamm on Tuesday said he did not ask to be on the committee.
> 
> “I didn’t serve on any search committee,” he told The Oklahoman on Tuesday. “I didn’t ask to serve on any committee. I said I would be willing to if asked. I wasn’t.”


Umm, Mr. Hamm - that is the definition of asking (boarding on a demand).

https://www.google.com/search?q=ask+definition

----------


## Pete

We had discussed elsewhere that CLR runs a very lean ship and that don't even fully occupy their current HQ building (let alone be in the market to buy Chase Tower).

In a report just posted as part of their job creation incentive payments, the company reported 669 jobs in OKC.

That's down about 50 positions since their high in 2015.

The City has paid them a total of $7.2 million for job creation.

----------


## Pete

Harold Hamm is now the richest Oklahoman according to Forbes, worth $19.5 billion and ranked #29 (#43 in 2017_ on the Forbes 400 list:

https://www.forbes.com/profile/harol.../#27cbc6ea59b1


Other OKC people on that list:

#73  David Green - Hobby Lobby:  $6.7B
#73  Tom & Judy Love - Love Stores  $6.9B  (the numbers show are real-time according to Forbes, so fluctuate over time)

----------


## dankrutka

> Harold Hamm is now the richest Oklahoman according to Forbes, worth $19.5 billion and ranked #29 (#43 in 2017_ on the Forbes 400 list:
> 
> https://www.forbes.com/profile/harol.../#27cbc6ea59b1
> 
> 
> Other OKC people on that list:
> 
> #73  David Green - Hobby Lobby:  $6.7B
> #73  Tom & Judy Love - Love Stores  $6.9B  (the numbers show are real-time according to Forbes, so fluctuate over time)


Just curious. What are the biggest philanthropy donations and areas of donation for these OKC billionaires? With so many Kaiser gifts in Tulsa, it's made me curious how they compare.

----------


## Bellaboo

> Just curious. What are the biggest philanthropy donations and areas of donation for these OKC billionaires? With so many Kaiser gifts in Tulsa, it's made me curious how they compare.


I know Hamm has a building in the Health Science Center with his name on it - Not sure how much he donated though.

----------


## OKCRT

The rich get richer.

----------


## Pete

> Just curious. What are the biggest philanthropy donations and areas of donation for these OKC billionaires? With so many Kaiser gifts in Tulsa, it's made me curious how they compare.


Harold Hamm has donated $30 million to start Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the OUHSC.

----------


## gopokes88

> Just curious. What are the biggest philanthropy donations and areas of donation for these OKC billionaires? With so many Kaiser gifts in Tulsa, it's made me curious how they compare.


Observationally it seems like a pretty big hole was left when McClendon died

----------


## gopokes88

https://oklahoman.com/article/563305...-stock-buyback

All of Hamms wealth is in CLR stock, he cant really be to philanthropic without selling off stock (which he isnt going to do),  but now with CLR starting a $75,000,000 yearly dividend (thatll grow over time), Hamm is going to have at least $50,000,000 in cash coming in every year. Lets see if it changes something.

----------


## gopokes88

Forgot the $1,000,000,000 stock buyback. Hamm owns 77% of the stock. 

So either he’s going to selling stock back to CLR, which doesn’t send a bad message to Wall Street, doesn’t really dilute his holdings, and allows him to somewhat cash out. 

Or B CLR is going to be buying back from the other 23% of the company. Some quick math,

15 billion market cap but 77% of it will be off limits. 
.77* 15 =11.55. 15-11.55= 3.45 billion. 

If he holds his stock, CLR will be buying back $1 billion of an available (at today’s closing price) of 3.45 billion in available market cap. 

That will create tremendous upward pressure on their stock price. That’s what 29% or so, that will be bought back? 

It’s why the stock popped 14% today. The stock popping like it did might mean B

----------


## mugofbeer

> Benefit? Upside? We're talking public safety. Your entire response is basically apologizing for an industry lacking ethics. An industry with ethics doesn't need a commission to tell them right or wrong. It should be proactive in protecting public safety. 
> 
> Devon was involved in shady politics during Denton's fracking ban vote. Is there a major energy company that hasn't been implicated in unethical practices in the last 5 years?


Well said my ***.  The very nature of the industry attracks a certain kind of person.  It's a very high risk, high reward business for a product that is dirty, dangerous, chemically-concentrated, breaks down to God-only-knows how many products and compounds.  Some are dangerous, not water-soluble, not easily disposed of and are problems ecologically.  Others are, like gasoline, motor oil, jet fuel and plastics are the foundations of our lives today.  
People who are legitimate risk-takers in the business don't obsess about rules and regulations.  When the times have come up that the rules have been broken and environmental rules are violated, they should be punished.  
However, don't sit there and b***h about how they are all crooks and criminals.  
O & G employs 5-6% of the US workforce.  More like 10% including indirect business.  If l went to your house, l bet it would be filled with products produced by those 10 -11 million shady people working some of the dirtiest, hottest, coldest, most dangerous - but highest paying jobs out there.  
There are hundreds - if not thousands of ignorant people out there essentially trying to shut the industry down.  Voters in Colorado twice badly voted down anti-fracking legislation that would ban drilling from most all of Colorado.  The State legislature defied the voters and passed their own which will do nothing but cost everyone hundreds of millions in fees to go to lawyers.
Yes, there have been abuses but the vast majority of the industry is completely ethical.  It's very difficult to be squeaky clean with such a messy, dangerous, flammable - but totally essential product.  I have many friends and relatives in the industry who are not shady, who are not unethical and who are not greedy, filthy terrible people.  
As far as lobbying to save their business, there's nothing wrong with that.  Every industry lobbies.  If you legislate the business out of existence you are left with being back to being reliant on Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Russia, Venezuela and others.  Oh, but we'll all have electric cars - but they use rare earth minerals dominated by China.  
If the industry causes damage, such as with water disposal injection, spills, etc., deal with that.  Enjoy your car!

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## mugofbeer

> First, there seems to be clear evidence that the energy companies have NOT cooperated with researchers, but repeatedly discounted the research or played dumb. With public safety, companies should always be on the safe side. Period. The energy companies have been unethical. They should have led the efforts to investigate it, not wait for proof on every individual case. 
> 
> Second, the fracking ban was not organized or funded by environmental groups, but by local citizens who were being ignored by the energy companies. Numerous residents repeatedly pleaded with energy companies to quit drilling right next to their houses, which was causing physical and water damage that made the homes unlivable. After repeated attempts at compromise, a group of citizens started the fracking ban campaign. It was a clear example of the industry being unethical. Doesn't matter because the energy companies got the Texas state house to take away the rights of local citizens to enact their own laws, which is obviously hypocritical for supposed small government politicians... But money spoke louder than democracy. 
> 
> I have no stakes in any if this, but the energy industry has clear systemic ethical problems. It's resulted in Oklahoma dealing with thousands of earthquakes and no one taking responsibility. It's really quite alarming.


Show us the proof with scientific, unbiased evidence if you're going to make generalizations like that.  I don't deny that there have been abuses, especially in the past, but O & G is highly monitored by virtually everyone these days, including a lot of anti-oil activists that push information that's about as true as what anti-vaxxers push.  It is also a naturally political industry so if you think it's wrong to lobby an issue, like in Denton, you are being hypocritical.

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## gopokes88

Lol those posts are 4 years old, do we really need to re-litigate them?

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## Thomas Vu

> Lol those posts are 4 years old, do we really need to re-litigate them?



I was wondering where those came from haha

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## gopokes88

https://oklahoman.com/article/563753...es-new-acreage

This is smart. 

Also lagoon continues it’s rapid growth. Heard a rumor they will be leading some space downtown soon.

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## gopokes88

Hamm retiring as CEO, staying on as chairman of the board. William Berry is the new CEO. He's very impressive.

Hamm still owns 65%, no worry about moving to Houston or anything. 

http://www.rbcrichardsonbarr.com/Ind...PR_____DA64475

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## DowntownMan

> Hamm retiring as CEO, staying on as chairman of the board. William Berry is the new CEO. He's very impressive.
> 
> Hamm still owns 65%, no worry about moving to Houston or anything. 
> 
> http://www.rbcrichardsonbarr.com/Ind...PR_____DA64475


He owns 77% of the shares.

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## gopokes88

> He owns 77% of the shares.


Hell yeah buybacks

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## OKIENW

Found this article today.  Figured since the other thread is focused on oil in general I should post it here.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/434...es-hibernation

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## Harbinger

Here is an interesting article about Harold Hamm and his fight to keep Continental afloat during Covid. A lot I didn't know about him. Also, maybe I'm the last to find this out, but I had no idea how much he has the president's ear...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj...wn-11590074165

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## securityinfo

Bummer.  WSJ Paywall.  And talk about necropost! Could be a new record!  :-)

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## Harbinger

> Bummer.  WSJ Paywall.  And talk about necropost! Could be a new record!  :-)


True, it's an old thread, but my intention was not to spam (as necropost would imply), but rather show a unique perspective of how a. the coronavirus is affecting energy, and b. show a glimpse into the personality of a prominent Oklahoma figure (loved or hated). As for the paywall, all I can say is that I had no problem accessing it at one point.

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## Pete

As CLR's stock price has slumped, Harold Hamm has increased his ownership to nearly 80%:

https://www.barrons.com/articles/con...ck-51593255605

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## Timshel

CLR goes private in 3.....2.....

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## BoulderSooner

> CLR goes private in 3.....2.....


he has no reason to go private ..

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## mugofbeer

> he has no reason to go private ..


Buy the stock back at historical lows then float a new stock offering at some point in the future when he feels O&G prices will be significantly higher - therefore the new stock issue price would be higher.  A calculated risk.

Dun & Bradstreet went public again today 16 months after merging with a private equity firm and going private.

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## Timshel

Yeah I mean Harold said less than a year ago there was little value for CLR in remaining public. Obviously a very different market now then when he said it, though not necessary in ways that argue for remaining public. Plenty of reasons to go private depending on how you view the future market and the fundamentals of the company. FWIW, however, I would be shocked if Harold did it, but it's not completely impossible.

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## PhiAlpha

Looks like the remainder of Samson’s assets are staying with OK ownership. CLR was the buyer for all of Samson’s Powder River Basin Assets. This will be CLR’s first entry into WY and the Powder River Basin. 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...=eml_cleartime

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## DowntownMan

> Looks like the remainder of Samson’s assets are staying with OK ownership. CLR was the buyer for all of Samson’s Powder River Basin Assets. This will be CLR’s first entry into WY and the Powder River Basin. 
> 
> https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...=eml_cleartime


Correct this was announced on their earnings 2 weeks ago.

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## sooner88

This Blaine Dyer, et al lawsuit keeps getting more interesting:

https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCase...9&cmid=3977854

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## Pete

^
Holy cow.

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## PoliSciGuy

Holy smokes. This makes the Watergate break-in look downright masterful in comparison.

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## Pete

It's hard to know if Dyer et. al. did what CLR claims, but it seems very obvious that Continental did gain access to a Dyer-owned building using lies in order to try to obtain information they could use against him.

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## Dob Hooligan

No criminal complaint. Just filings in a civil case. Not sure what to think, other than being skeptical.

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## WheelerD Guy

It sounds like this Dyer character likes to party. Is that fair?

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## mugofbeer

Old fashioned drilling wildcatter type?

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## soonergolfer

> Old fashioned drilling wildcatter type?


Haha. No, he was an OU frat guy early 2000’s from PCN.

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## sooner88

Article summarizing the petition posted earlier:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.okl...amp/7491661002

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## WheelerD Guy

> Haha. No, he was an OU frat guy early 2000s from PCN.


Im getting the distinct vibe that almost everyone involved in these lawsuits likes to, not just partybut party naked.

This thing is going to make one heck of a movie.

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## PhiAlpha

Continental just entered the Delaware Basin (Permian) via a $3.2 billion acquisition from Pioneer Resources. Don’t look now but after the Samson Powder River Basin acquisition, CLR is in 4 major basins including the largest in the country. Big moves for a company that was starting to run low on drilling inventory in OK and ND. Solid for OKC. 


https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...es-2021-11-03/

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## mugofbeer

Solid for the country where we can pump our own oil vs. Biden begging Putin and MBS to pump more so our gasoline isn't so expensive.

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## PhiAlpha

> Solid for the country where we can pump our own oil vs. Biden begging Putin and MBS to pump more so our gasoline isn't so expensive.


Well it was already going to be drilled one way or the other but on general principle…I 100% Agree! Lol

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## WheelerD Guy

> Continental just entered the Delaware Basin (Permian) via a $3.2 billion acquisition from Pioneer Resources. Don’t look now but after the Samson Powder River Basin acquisition, CLR is in 4 major basins including the largest in the country. Big moves for a company that was starting to run low on drilling inventory in OK and ND. Solid for OKC. 
> 
> 
> https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...es-2021-11-03/


Do you know, offhand, how much of the acreage sits in NM or federal lands?

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## DoctorTaco

> Do you know, offhand, how much of the acreage sits in NM or federal lands?


It's almost entirely in Texas, so none.

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## catch22

> Solid for the country where we can pump our own oil vs. Biden begging Putin and MBS to pump more so our gasoline isn't so expensive.


Strategically wouldn’t it be better for the US to buy up the world’s oil supply before touching all of our own? If we can get it cheap enough from overseas while relations allow that just preserves more of our own for the future.

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## BoulderSooner

> Strategically wouldn’t it be better for the US to buy up the world’s oil supply before touching all of our own? If we can get it cheap enough from overseas while relations allow that just preserves more of our own for the future.


oil is not going to run out .... ever

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## PhiAlpha

> Strategically wouldn’t it be better for the US to buy up the world’s oil supply before touching all of our own? If we can get it cheap enough from overseas while relations allow that just preserves more of our own for the future.


Though the international and offshore projects generally yield more oil (most are usually unexplored/undeveloped so you’re getting virgin pressure as opposed to trying to wring more out of the source rock, tight formations and conventional reservoirs), but they also come with much higher geopolitical risk, the risk that comes with wildcatting unexplored areas, and the technical difficulty of developing offshore reservoirs….all of which mean much more expensive. Often the risk doesn’t equal the reward to start new projects like that if the price of oil is below $90-$100 and most of those projects have a five year concept to production timeline. 

The geopolitical risk is a big issue. Most countries don’t want to give up complete control of their oil supply and the country itself generally owns the minerals so we can’t just go out and lease private minerals owners as we can in the us. Additionally the oil reserves for the most part aren’t in the most western nation friendly and/or stable countries in the world.  Egypt a few years back and Venezuela nationalizing all their production and essentially stealing it from American producers are two good examples.

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## mugofbeer

> Strategically wouldn’t it be better for the US to buy up the world’s oil supply before touching all of our own? If we can get it cheap enough from overseas while relations allow that just preserves more of our own for the future.


I'm sure we could buy it all and fill some dry lake bed in Nevada with it.  Then we could have a great lake of oil we"d bought from an OPEC full of dictators.  We could even call it Devil's Lake!   :Doh:

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## StrongCider

Blaine Dyer and cousin Jimmy Dyer indicted by the Feds. Multiple counts of wire fraud, lying on loan documents, etc.
https://www.docketbird.com/court-cas...r-00209-117962

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## Pete

The indictments are under seal, but these are the cover sheets:

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## Anonymous.

Hamm has announced a proposal to take the company private @ $70 per share.

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## OKCRealtor

Dang I've known Jimmy back to high school/OU days.

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## DowntownMan

> Hamm has announced a proposal to take the company private @ $70 per share.


70 seems low since it was above that last week before Mondays market sell off and already above 70 in premarket today.

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## BoulderSooner

> 70 seems low since it was above that last week before Mondays market sell off and already above 70 in premarket today.


considering that he owns 83% of the company shares ...     i'm sure this will happen

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## DowntownMan

> considering that he owns 83% of the company shares ...     i'm sure this will happen


Oh for sure. Im sure its a done deal already. Sounds like there might just be an independent firm to decide final share price but other than that. Im sure its already a done deal

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## okatty

In terms of the process, the merger offer filed with the SEC states as follows:

 Q. What is involved in proceeding with the proposed transaction?

A. The CLR Board of Directors is delegating the review and negotiation of Mr. Hamm’s proposal to a special committee of independent directors (the “Special Committee”), who will, in consultation with its own independent financial and legal advisors, carefully review and evaluate and negotiate the Hamm Family proposal. The Special Committee process is designed to advocate for and protect the interests of our minority shareholders, including our public investors. The Hamm Family has agreed not to move forward with the transaction unless the Special Committee determines the price is fair to, and in the best interest of, our public shareholders.

At this point, the board of directors of CLR has only received the non-binding proposal letter from the Hamm Family and no decisions have been made by the Special Committee with respect to CLR’s response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any agreement will be entered into or that transaction will be approved or consummated.

----------


## BoulderSooner

> In terms of the process, the merger offer filed with the SEC states as follows:
> 
>  Q. What is involved in proceeding with the proposed transaction?
> 
> A. The CLR Board of Directors is delegating the review and negotiation of Mr. Hamm’s proposal to a special committee of independent directors (the “Special Committee”), who will, in consultation with its own independent financial and legal advisors, carefully review and evaluate and negotiate the Hamm Family proposal. The Special Committee process is designed to advocate for and protect the interests of our minority shareholders, including our public investors. The Hamm Family has agreed not to move forward with the transaction unless the Special Committee determines the price is fair to, and in the best interest of, our public shareholders.
> 
> At this point, the board of directors of CLR has only received the non-binding proposal letter from the Hamm Family and no decisions have been made by the Special Committee with respect to CLR’s response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any agreement will be entered into or that transaction will be approved or consummated.


of course with or with out this    the family will likely continue to acquire shares ..

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## okatty

^The price will have to be high enough to fend off dissenter’s rights claims - which allow minority shareholders to force an appraisal process if they can show the tendered price is not fair value.  Further, those independent directors are fiduciaries and will have a duty to look out for the minority shareholders as well.    I agree it will happen.  Question is if they give any room to open the door for minority claims.

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## Bits_Of_Real_Panther

Going private, won't have to deal with ESG stuff

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## PhiAlpha

> Going private, won't have to deal with ESG stuff


Exactly

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## okatty

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/busi...mm/65464994007

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## TheTravellers

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/busi...y/69669869007/

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