Oklahoma oil billionaire and fervent Trump supporter Harold Hamm is tempering some of his optimism about the prospect of an oil boom under Trump.
In a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last summer, Hamm predicted that U.S. oil production would double under Trump, creating thousands of new jobs. In the wake of OPEC’s decision to cut production, Hamm said on Thursday that he believed U.S. fracking operations could double output if they went “flat out.”
But, as CNN Money reports,Hamm said it would be “foolish” to increase production at that rate because it would flood the market and send prices plummeting again.
Hamm also praised Trump’s selection of fellow Oklahoman Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. Hamm has helped raise money for Pruitt’s campaigns, and Pruitt has returned the favor by fiercely defending oil operations from climate regulation. Hamm expressed confidence that Trump and Pruitt would remove much of President Obama’s climate policy within the new administration’s first 100 days.