Though the byline is Bismarck, and there is no video, I think this is related to the interview that CNBC had with Harold Hamm this date at about 8:40 a.m. EST.
Some data points:
First, reality:
North Dakota oil drillers increasingly will rely on trains to move barrels of crude to market after the Obama administration's decision to reject plans for a pipeline that would run from Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, state and industry officials say.
"Pipelines are by far the safest and most economically efficient way to transport oil, but we are left with a limited number of options if pipelines are off the table," said Tony Clark, chairman of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. "Once the oil is flowing, it has to go somewhere."
Second, cost:
Alison Ritter, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Mineral Resources, said the state's so-called takeaway capacity is adequate, though producers and the state were counting on the on the Keystone XL to move North Dakota crude.
Shipping crude by pipeline in North Dakota adds up to $1.50 to its cost, compared to $2 or more a barrel for rail shipments, producers say.
"Oil that would have moved by the Keystone XL is now going to shift to rail transportation," Ritter said.
Third, hypocrisy:
Wayde Schafer, a North Dakota spokesman for the Sierra Club, said Obama's decision was appropriate though oil that would have moved on the pipeline will be transported by environmentally riskier rail or trucks.
Fourth, Warren Buffett and BNSF
BNSF Railway Co. hauls about 75 percent of the oil that currently leaves North Dakota by train, ...
The railroad is a unit of billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and Buffett is a longtime Obama adviser.
Harold Hamm, ... believes Buffett had no influence in Obama's decision to block the pipeline. Instead, he called it a "lucky break" for Buffett.
"Warren is smart and I like his intuition. He is a friend of mine," Hamm said. "I don't agree with his political leanings and his liberal outlook on things. But certainly he's favored by this decision — it's easy to figure that one out."
Fifth, rail and CLR
Hamm said most of his company's production already is shipped by rail. If the Keystone XL is not built, oil production will be slowed in North Dakota but the domestic oil will be more valuable without the competition from Canadian crude ...
