Trump VP prospect Doug Burgum and GOP megadonor Harold Hamm are allies in business and politics

• Doug Burgum, former President Donald Trump's energy advisor and possible choice to be his running mate, is in a land deal with oil and gas giant Continental Resources.
• Burgum's family leases their 200 acres of farm land in North Dakota to energy giant Continental Resources for the company to pump oil and gas.
• The ties between Burgum and Hamm are under scrutiny by government ethics experts.

If former President Donald Trump taps North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be his running mate, the biggest beneficiary of the partnership could be someone else entirely: Harold Hamm, the billionaire founder of shale oil drilling giant Continental Resources, could end up with two powerful allies in a Trump White House.

Burgum's ties to Hamm and the shale oil drilling giant he founded are complex. Continental is the largest oil and gas leaseholder in North Dakota, where oil and gas is biggest industry by revenue.

The two men also have a friendship outside of business: Burgum recently contributed a rave review blurb to Hamm's new memoir. And during his 2023 state of the state address, Burgum compared Hamm favorably to President Theodore Roosevelt, describing Hamm as a person "whose grit, resilience, hard work and determination has changed North Dakota and our nation."

But Burgum has an even more personal link to Continental: Burgum's family leases their 200 acre farm land in Williams County to the energy giant for pumping oil and gas, according to previously unreported business records and a federal financial disclosure report.

Burgum made up to $50,000 in royalties while he was governor since late 2022 from the deal with Continental Resources, according to his financial disclosure, details of which have not been reported.

Experts told CNBC