BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — When North Dakota’s petroleum association was going to hold a banquet honoring top fracking executives last year, it turned to Gov. Doug Burgum. The two-term Republican, now President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, co-hosted the event — at the governor’s mansion.
And when energy industry lobbyists were looking for help taking on Biden administration greenhouse gas rules, they also turned to Burgum. In an email to Burgum’s office seeking the legal heft the state could provide, an industry lobbyist argued that “combating” such regulations required “a one-two punch” from industry and government.
While it is not surprising that the governor of the third-largest oil producing state would have a close relationship with fossil fuel producers, records obtained by the Associated Press reveal Burgum’s administration eagerly assisted the industry even as the governor was profiting from the lease of family land to oil companies. And his assistance came at a time when Burgum was leaning on those very connections to build his national profile in the Republican Party.
If confirmed to run the Interior Department — as soon as Thursday — Burgum will have vast control over federal lands, including the issuance of oil and gas leases, as well as a mandate from Trump to extract such resources even though the U.S. is producing record amounts of fossil fuels.
The selection of Burgum, who briefly pursued the presidency in 2023 before endorsing Trump, represents an abrupt pivot from Biden’s emphasis on combating climate change. It also signals that Trump intends to follow through on a proposal made last spring when he urged oil and gas CEOs to donate $1 billion to his campaign in exchange for the dismantling of Biden’s environmental agenda.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokesman for Burgum declined to make him available for an interview.
“Governor Burgum worked tirelessly to build a prosperous economy,” spokesman Rob Lockwood said in a statement. “As governor, he met with job creators and leaders who generated opportunities for the people of North Dakota.”
Under the partisan glare of Washington and faced with stricter federal ethics rules governing conflicts of interest, Burgum has pledged to sell his interest in his family’s lease with the shale oil giant Continental Resources, as well as another one with Hess, a Chevron subsidiary. He has also pledged to sell stock held in a handful of energy companies, some of which he interacted with as governor, which are worth as much as $200,000 according to his 2023 financial disclosures.
Close ties to an industry titan
There is perhaps no better demonstration of Burgum’s close ties to oil and gas producers than his friendship with Harold Hamm, the Continental founder. The billionaire Oklahoma wildcatter advises Trump on energy policy and is widely viewed as playing a role in helping Burgum secure the nomination to lead Interior. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Burgum has likened Hamm to Teddy Roosevelt for his “grit, resilience, hard work and determination” that he said “changed North Dakota and our nation.” The shout-out came after Hamm had donated $50 million toward a library honoring Roosevelt in western North Dakota — a passion project of Burgum’s.
Hamm also gifted Burgum a set of cuff links along with a note thanking Burgum for his “friendship.”
These were not his only displays of patronage. Though Burgum, an independently wealthy former software company CEO, had a dim chance of winning the Republican presidential primary, Hamm’s Continental Resources contributed $250,000 in the summer of 2023 to a super PAC supporting Burgum, records show.
Emails between Burgum and Hamm’s offices reveal the two communicated often.
In a May 2020 email, Hamm’s executive assistant asked if Burgum had time to talk with Hamm and shared a briefing document that railed against wind power and excoriated tax breaks for wind energy providers as “unconscionable.”
Ethics experts say there are other aspects of their relationship that pose a greater conflict of interest. As governor, Burgum never disclosed that his family leased roughly 200 acres of farmland to Continental for well drilling, as previously reported by CNBC. When Burgum ran for president and faced greater transparency requirements, he revealed making $50,000 in royalties from Continental in 2023.
“Tens of thousands of families and mineral owners have similar arrangements,” said Lockwood, the Burgum spokesman, “As the publicly available disclosures show: the cited agreement began many years before he became governor.”
Despite this relationship, Burgum took action that benefited Hamm. As chairman of North Dakota’s Industrial Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, he voted nearly a dozen times or more on measures that had favorable outcomes for Continental, records show.
Sarah Vogel, a Democrat and former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner who previously sat on the commission, said Burgum seemed more like a cheerleader of the industry than a regulator.
“I don’t think he had a regulator’s mindset. He had a promoter’s mindset, which has probably made him beloved in the oil and gas industry,” Vogel said.
Other executives have ties to Burgum
Hamm is not the only oil executive or lobbyist who has cultivated ties with Burgum. Ryan Berger, a lobbyist for Occidental Petroleum, emailed Burgum’s staff last year seeking a meeting for Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub.
“In an ideal world, a face-to-face over lunch or dinner would be amazing,” Berger wrote in a May 2024 email.
The records revealed that a Who’s Who of oil executives had calls scheduled with Burgum. They include: CEOs of Chevron and Exxon; Marathon Oil officials had an audience with Burgum in 2022; and the governor also spoke before the Hess Corporation’s board of directors’ dinner. Burgum’s family also has an oil lease with Hess that paid him as much as $1,000, according to his financial disclosure.
On Inauguration Day, Burgum declined an invitation to attend a party at the posh Hay-Adams Hotel that was hosted by Hamm and several petroleum trade associations and oil companies.
Many of those executives and lobbyists, who will have business before the Interior Department, already know how to reach him.
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Slodysko reported from Washington.
Brian Slodysko And Jack Dura, The Associated Press
