{"id":330278,"date":"2026-01-21T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/?p=330278"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:56:08","slug":"harold-hamm-halts-drilling-in-bakken-on-oil-downturn","status":"publish","type":"noticias","link":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/news\/harold-hamm-halts-drilling-in-bakken-on-oil-downturn\/","title":{"rendered":"Harold Hamm halts drilling in Bakken on oil downturn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Continental Resources founder pulls out of Bakken for first time in 30 years due to poor crude oil returns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In a decision that reverberates throughout the U.S. energy industry, Harold Hamm<\/strong>, founder of Continental Resources Inc.<\/a><\/strong>announced the cessation of drilling operations <\/a>in the Bakken Shale<\/strong> basin in North Dakota. The move comes on the heels of a sustained plunge in oil prices, which has reduced operating margins to critical levels. <\/p>\n\n

The brake of a key figure in fracking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Hamm, considered one of the pioneers of the U.S. shale oil revolution, confirmed in an interview that this is the first time in more than three decades that he will not operate drilling rigs in North Dakota<\/strong>. “There’s no need to drill when the margins have virtually dried up,” the 80-year-old businessman said. <\/p>\n\n

This break marks a turning point for the Bakken, a basin in which Hamm demonstrated that the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling could release oil from previously inaccessible geological formations.<\/p>\n\n

Bakken Basin: profitability under pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The Bakken Shale<\/strong> is one of the most iconic fracking regions in the United States, but also one of the most cost-sensitive. According to BloombergNEF, an average well in the area requires at least $58 per barrel to cover its costs<\/strong> and generate a slight profit, a figure that has increased by 4% in the last year due to higher operating expenses. <\/p>\n\n

With West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil hovering around US$60 per barrel<\/strong> and a cumulative drop of 26% over the last year<\/strong>, trading has entered a zone of minimal or no profitability.<\/p>\n\n

A signal to the entire industry<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Continental Resources is not alone in cutting back on activity. Companies such as Diamondback Energy<\/strong>, which operate in other key basins such as the Permian Basin<\/strong>, have also acknowledged that many of their best fields have already been exploited, and that production may have peaked. <\/p>\n\n

If oil prices fall below $50 per barrel on a prolonged basis<\/strong>, analysts anticipate even more aggressive cutbacks in drilling and fracking across the United States. In this context, Hamm’s decision could be seen as a thermometer of where the industry is headed during 2026. <\/p>\n\n

Source: https:\/\/www.rigzone.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Photo: Shutterstock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harold Hamm suspends drilling in Bakken due to low oil profitability, a historic change for U.S. fracking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8059,"featured_media":325339,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categoria_noticias":[13026,13036],"etiqueta_noticias":[],"class_list":["post-330278","noticias","type-noticias","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria_noticias-energy","categoria_noticias-oil-and-gas"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/330278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticias"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8059"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/330278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categoria_noticias","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria_noticias?post=330278"},{"taxonomy":"etiqueta_noticias","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/etiqueta_noticias?post=330278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}