Billionaire oilman: I'm not cutting production yet
Oil titan Harold Hamm told CNBC on Tuesday: Don't believe the hype. "There's not a glut in the market at all."
The billionaire founder of Continental Resources (CLR) took issue with the reason mostly given for crude's slide to multi-year lows, and said he's not cutting production yet. But even if he did, he said, "You don't cap producing wells. What you do is cut back on new drilling."
"What we see here is people projecting next year that we might see [oversupply]," he said in a " Squawk Box " interview. "It would have to be a perfect world to see that. I, frankly, don't believe that's going to happen."
He disputed contentions from Goldman Sachs, which on Sunday predicted oil at $70 a barrel in the U.S. in the second quarter because of oversupply. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading $81 in early trading Tuesday after dropping below $80 Monday for the first time since early summer of 2012.
Read More Oil below $80: Why that's bad news
"After it gets in the $70s people are hurt," Hamm admitted. "We don't see a need for it to be there."
Making his case, he said the oil supply is actually down in various parts of the world, including Venezuela and Argentina as well as Alaska and California. The only spot where supply is going up is onshore in the U.S., he said.
Fellow oilman T. Boone Pickens said in a Wall Street Journal interview recently that energy companies are pumping too much.
Hamm disagreed, saying the drop in prices this time has been different. "It hasn't been like most supply and demand situations where it gradually goes down. This has just been a sharp cut." He attributed the weakness to Saudi Arabia's recent promise to hold production levels steady. OPEC next meets at the end of next month.
Read More Why OPEC's losing its ability to set oil prices
