This oil tycoon brings in millions for Trump, and may set his agenda [View all]

[Ramsey Barner]

Last edited Tue Aug 13, 2024, 09:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Harold Hamm has become Trump’s point person in raising funds from oil industry donors and relaying to the ex-president what the industry wants. His message appears to be resonating with some of the country’s wealthiest oil magnates, who are banking on Trump’s promises to reverse dozens of Biden’s environmental rules and policies. The money has been flowing in. The oil and gas industry has contributed more than $20.3 million to the Trump campaign, pro-Trump super PACs and the Republican National Committee in the 2024 cycle, according to data from OpenSecrets. Trump is expected to do more oil and gas events later this year, aides say.

Hamm has a wish list of policy changes in a second Trump term that would pad his profits and those of other oil executives. At the top of the list: opening up more federal lands to drilling, easing the Endangered Species Act and curbing numerous regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency, according to people familiar with his demands. Throughout Trump’s first term in office, Hamm was a reliable supporter of the administration and regularly spoke to the president. In early 2020, he lobbied Trump to help persuade Saudi Arabia and Russia to end a price war that had driven down the price of oil below $0 a barrel, causing Hamm to lose $3 billion in just a few days, people familiar with his meetings said.

The effort appeared to pay off. In April 2020, under pressure from Trump, members of OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations agreed to the largest production cuts ever negotiated — nearly 10 million barrels a day — as oil demand collapsed during the pandemic.

[Much more at link]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/13/oil-donors-trump-pac-harold-hamm-election/