Continental Resources Inc. said Dec. 11 Harold Hamm will step into a new role at the Oklahoma City-based company he founded more than 50 years ago.

Effective Jan. 1, Hamm, currently chairman and CEO, will become executive chairman. Meanwhile, William Berry is set to join Continental Resources as its next CEO. Also part of the transition, President Jack Stark will assume the additional role of COO.

Berry has spent over four decades in the oil and gas business in a variety of roles. His career includes serving as an executive with ConocoPhillips Co. where he was responsible for global operations managing over 10,000 employees and over $12 billion in capex, according to the Continental press release.

“Bill gives us an extraordinary opportunity to expand our leadership. … Like me, his DNA is oil and gas exploration and production,” Hamm said in a statement on Dec. 11.

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Hamm also described Berry as his personal confidant adding that he has also been a trusted advisor that has helped guide the Continental Resources executive team since joining the company’s board in 2014.

As for Hamm, he signaled that this change is in no way a retirement.

“As for me, I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m an oil finder and geologist at heart. Working together, Bill and I will help the company cultivate new strategic opportunities.”

He also added that he believed this is the right time to bring Berry on board.

“As most everyone knows, I have a long history of buying, not selling our stock and that will not change,” he said. “We are living in the new oil era, driven by the American Energy Renaissance. ... With Bill, Jack and our extraordinary team, we will define that new era going forward.”

Continental Resources is an oil producer in the Bakken of North Dakota and in Oklahoma from its Scoop and Stack assets.

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