Don't miss your last chance to register for CAMRO's 2026 Annual Conference! Join us tomorrow, June 17, and June 18! Register online today and secure your spot before it's too late!
https://t.co/kS0Olvm9QV
#camro#annualconference#mineralowners#OilAndGas#LastChance
Only one week until our 9th Annual Conference hosted by University of Denver's Sturm College of Law!
Don't miss your chance to join us on June 17th and 18th!
Register online today!
https://t.co/FgCOYVqHHQ...
#CAMRO#annualconference#Agenda#mineralowners#oilandgas
Own minerals in Colorado? Then this is where you need to be!
Join us June 17–18, 2026 for CAMRO's 9th Annual Conference at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
Register now: https://t.co/RWnENchArz
#CAMRO#ColoradoMineralOwners#MineralRights#RoyaltyOwners
Registration for CAMRO's 9th Annual Conference is open!
Wednesday, June 17, - Thursday, June 18, 2026
University of Denver Sturm College of Law | Denver, CO
Register today!
https://t.co/kS0Olvm9QV
Save the date for CAMRO’s 9th Annual Conference!
Join us June 17–18, 2026, at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in Denver, Colorado.
Register today—we look forward to seeing you there!
https://t.co/kS0OlvlC1n
The Hamm Indicator just flipped in oil markets
A few days ago (Jan 16, 2026), Harold Hamm, the legend who invented the Bakken shale boom, announced he is halting all drilling in North Dakota.
His reason? "There’s no need to drill it when margins are basically gone."
When the godfather of fracking hangs up his spurs and crude oil is $60 (WTI), you should listen.
Let's take a step back and explain why the Hamm Indicator just flipped.
US oil production is near record highs.
The number of rigs drilling for oil is near record lows.
This math shouldn't work.
In 2014, the US needed 1,600 oil rigs to produce 9 million barrels/day.
In 2026, we use just 400 rigs to produce 14 million.
How? We stopped exploring and started manufacturing. What became known as the US tight oil revolution is entirely about efficiency and repetition, like manufacturing.
In fracking (the process used to produce tight oil), we sort of know where the oil is. The trick is in encouraging that oil to flow to the well head.
This encouragement isn't cheap.
Here is why the rig count is a broken metric, and why the breakeven price for the US and the world has quietly risen to $60.
1. The Geometry: Rig count is irrelevant because the rig has changed.
2014: A rig drilled 1 mile deep and 1 mile sideways. Cost: $8m. Time: 25 days.
2026: A rig drills 1 mile deep and 3 miles sideways. Cost: $10m. Time: 12 days.
We are drilling 3x the rock in half the time for nearly the same check.
2. The Sand: The secret isn't just the drill bit. It's the sand.
Water is the hammer (it cracks the rock). Sand is the wedge (it holds the cracks open).
2014: We used 1,000 lbs of sand per foot. We propped open the main arteries.
2026: We use 2,500+ lbs per foot. We prop open every tiny capillary.
We built a super-highway for oil to escape. The result? You don't sip the milkshake; you crush the cup.
3. Liquids and Spacing: Facking for oil uses water under enormous pressures to break the reservoir rock.
Over the past ten years the industry moved to slickwater (99% water + friction reducers) pumped at insane speeds (100 barrels/min). This vastly increases flow rates.
In 2014, we fracked a section underground every 300 feet. Today, we frack every 150 feet.
All of this is to get the oil out cheaply and ASAP.
4. The Crash: Modern wells don't age gently. They have high initial production (IP) and then they crash.
A 2014 well declined 60% in Year 1. A 2026 well declines 70% within a year.
This is the "Red Queen Effect." To keep production flat, you have to drill new wells faster than the old ones die. We are running 20% faster today just to stay in the same place.
5. The Prime Rib: So if we are so efficient, why is the breakeven price rising? Because we ate the best steak.
Acreage is graded:
• Tier 1 (Prime): High pressure, easy oil.
• Tier 2 (Choice): Gassier (less oil, more nat gas), lower pressure.
From 2015-2024, we drilled the prime rib to survive cheap sub-$60 oil.
Now, the prime is gone. operators are forced into Tier 2.
This is what Harold Hamm sees.
The Tier 1 orange in the US has been squeezed.
We have maxed out the lateral lengths. We have maxed out the sand loading (2,500 lbs/ft). We have maxed out the fluid velocity.
Physics has no more discounts to give.
So today, enjoy your $60 per barrel steak, by 2027 you may well have switched to $80+ Hamm sandwiches.
[these are personal ideas and opinions, none of this is financial advice]
Don't forget to dial in tomorrow and express your support for oil & gas!
The next monthly AQCC Hearing is TOMORROW:
Thursday January 15, 2026 from 9:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Public Comment begins at 9:10 AM
https://t.co/HTFvol97Px
Do you live in @LarimerCounty?
This one is good... I got to make a string.
The first oil & gas discovery was on Armistice day in 1923 (yup) in the Wellington field. A vertical Niobrara well that tested at 82 million cubic feet (MMSCF) per day.... That is legit people.
@CityofLoveland People like to talk about the "Jake" well drilled by EOG as the first horizontal Niobrara well (Weld County)... Wrong.
The first (actually three) horizontal Niobrara wells were drilled and fractured in the Loveland field in....
The early 1990's (I think 93' & 94').