Wildcatter Harold Hamm Says Shale Needs $80 Oil for Costly Fields

Harold Hamm, the billionaire wildcatter and a major donor to President Donald Trump, has challenged a claim from the new US energy secretary that domestic oil companies could increase production even at prices as low as $50 a barrel.

Hamm’s words represent one the first signs of public push-back from the US shale industry against the Trump administration’s energy policy. Hamm, 79, was one of the president’s biggest financial backers in last year’s election.