Americans could achieve energy independence by around 2022 under Donald Trump's plans to unleash what oil billionaire Harold Hamm told CNBC is the potential that President Barack Obama has thwarted with a "tsunami of regulations."
"Hillary Clinton wants to follow on with President Obama and basically discount what's been given with this American [energy] renaissance," said Hamm, an advisor to the Trump campaign on energy policy.
Hamm, chairman and CEO of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, on Friday told "Squawk on the Street" that he originally thought U.S. energy independence could be reached by 2020. "It's probably been delayed by a couple of years," with the collapse in oil prices, he predicted.
Oil prices were under pressure on Friday, threatening to break a streak of five winning weeks in a row. U.S. crude's 2 percent-plus decline on Thursday reversed the prior day's similar advance.
Since the February lows, West Texas Intermediate crude, the American benchmark, has gained 83 percent, trading around $50 per barrel. But crude was still off more than 50 percent, when measured against the June 2014 highs.
In July, Hamm spoke at the Republican National Convention, saying Hillary Clinton's energy ideas would "kill jobs," while praising Trump as the candidate who can jump-start "America's pent-up energy potential."