Continental Resources says CEO and founder Harold Hamm has canceled a scheduled appearance at this week’s OPEC meeting in Vienna, leaving only two U.S. shale executives set to speak at the event out of an original five.
Hamm’s withdrawal comes days after trade tensions between the U.S. and China intensified, with China imposing $50B in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crude oil and other goods; CLR has been a key supplier of crude oil to China, shipping more than 1M barrels to the country since a U.S. crude export ban was lifted in 2015.
Continental, the largest oil producer in North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation, has been a key supplier of crude oil to China, shipping more than 1 million barrels to the country since a U.S. crude export ban was lifted in 2015.
It was unclear how China will replace that source of crude, but several OPEC countries produce crude grades similar to Continental’s Bakken wells.
Centennial Resource Development CEO Mark Papa and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance earlier withdrew from the OPEC event; Pioneer Natural Resources Executive Chairman Scott Sheffield and Hess CEO John Hess are still scheduled to attend.
More CLR News from earlier this year: Continental Resources launches project Springboard.
