Continental Resources’ Harold Hamm accused Russia of trying to destroy the U.S. shale oil industry.
During an interview at a recent Forbes event, Hamm claims that Russians have worked with environmental groups and financed the anti-fracking movement in hopes of producing panic in the United States.
Hamm of course has a vested interest in the anti-fracking movement. He was a pioneer in the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to extract soil from shale. and has been instrumental in the development of the Bakken shale formation which has sparked a hge oil boom. It is expected that the Bakken will produce more than 1.3 million barrels of oil this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
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This isn’t the first time such accusations against Russia have been made. In June of 2014, NATO chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Russia was mounting a sophisticated campaign to undermine the development of alternative energy sources such as shale oil. According to Rasmussen, Russia wants to secure Europe's dependence on energy imports from Moscow.
“Rasmussen stated, “I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations - environmental organisations working against shale gas - to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas. That is my interpretation.”
For more, go to forbes.com