# Harold Hamm's Continental Resources Buys Half of Mercuria's Argentina Oil Project

> The US shale pioneer is taking a 50 percent stake in an Argentine oil project held by commodity trading giant Mercuria, the latest sign of growing international interest in the country's Vaca Muerta shale formation.

- Source: American Post News
- Canonical URL: https://americanpostnews.net/article/harold-hamm-continental-mercuria-argentina
- Author: American Post News Staff
- Section: Economy
- Published: 2026-08-22T19:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-22T19:00:00.000Z
- Tags: harold hamm, continental resources, mercuria, argentina, oil

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Continental Resources, the shale drilling company built by oil billionaire Harold Hamm, has agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in an Argentine oil project previously held in full by commodity trading giant Mercuria, according to people familiar with the deal.

The move gives Continental exposure to Vaca Muerta, the massive shale formation in Argentina's Patagonia region that has drawn growing interest from international oil companies in recent years. Vaca Muerta holds some of the largest shale oil and gas reserves outside North America, and Argentina has worked to attract foreign investment and expertise to help develop it more quickly.

Hamm built Continental into one of the largest independent oil producers in the United States through early, aggressive bets on shale formations like the Bakken in North Dakota, and the company has occasionally looked beyond US borders for additional growth opportunities. Mercuria, one of the world's largest independent commodity trading houses, has built out physical energy assets in various parts of the world alongside its core trading business.

Argentina's government has pushed to make the country more attractive to energy investors in recent years, including changes meant to ease regulatory hurdles and encourage large scale foreign investment in Vaca Muerta specifically. International oil and gas companies have gradually increased their presence in the region as infrastructure to move oil and gas out of the formation has expanded.

Neither Continental nor Mercuria has detailed the full financial terms of the arrangement. The deal adds to a broader wave of foreign capital moving into Argentina's energy sector as the country tries to turn Vaca Muerta into a major global oil and gas supplier.

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Originally published by American Post News. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://americanpostnews.net/article/harold-hamm-continental-mercuria-argentina.