(Bloomberg) — Billionaire shale wildcatter Harold Hamm, who took Continental Resources Inc. public 14 years ago, acknowledged that closely held competitors can do what he can’t: increase oil production to meet rising demand.
Hamm, who owns 81% of the Oklahoma-based shale giant he took public in 2007, said reverting to the private ownership model is appealing if and when investor interest wanes.
“You have to do what the market wants when you’re public,” Hamm said during a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “These privates, they have more freedom than we do.”
It’s not the first time Hamm has discussed the idea of taking the entire company back. In 2019, when oil stocks were trading at a 40% discount to five years earlier, he told analysts and investors that he saw little benefit to remaining publicly traded.
Hamm, 76, has been expanding his grip on Continental through stock purchases while the company itself resumed a $1 billion buyback program.
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