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The author and Harold Hamm agree that domestic fracking for oil will continue unabated at current prices due to past and ongoing technological advances. The difference is: The author thinks that crude dropped $20 due to increased supply (Russia, U.S. and Libya) and lower demand (Europe and U.S.), while Harold Hamm believes that it was due to a Saudi attempt to control the market price and put some heat on Russia and Iran, whose budgets are most vulnerable to crude price declines. The author would see the price down for a period of years, while Hamm sees the Saudi resolve breaking and the price returning higher shortly. My view is that supply and demand forced the Saudis' hand, that the move was in the Saudis' long-term interest anyway as a low-lifting-cost producer, and that increased demand from Asia will permit a return to higher prices in a year or two. The Saudis are not giving up $20 per barrel solely for political reasons; perhaps as an ancillary benefit.