During the presidential campaign, Trump frequently questioned the direction of US energy policy under President Barack Obama, and vowed to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement.
He has also promised to "unleash" the United States' energy potential by increasing its development of oil, coal and natural gas resources.
Hamm, a self-made billionaire who entered the energy business pumping gas at a local filling station, would certainly be seen as being of like mind as far as Trump's fossil fuel ambitions are concerned.
The Associated Press in the US says Hamm is on the short-list to lead the Energy Department, along with Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a state that experienced an economic boom due the expansion of oil extraction from the Bakken formation in the state, and Robert Grady, a venture capitalist who worked in the George H.W. Bush administration.
The AP based its report on a presidential transition document it obtained.
Hamm is best known for pioneering the development of the large shale oil resources of the Bakken formation.
Last summer, Forbes magazine listed him as the 39th richest person in the US, and the 98th richest person in the work. His estimated net worth is $11.3 billion.
Among his more controversial moves was reportedly telling the dean of the University of Oklahoma's College of Earth and Energy that he wanted certain earthquake researchers at the university fired because they were studying the connection between oil and gas development and the increase in earthquake activity in the state.
According to the Associated Press, the Trump transition document includes a list of energy and environmental priorities, including the repeal of Obama's Clean Power Plan, which, among other things, placed limits on the carbon pollution emitted by power plants.
The Clean Power Plan, which is part of the Clean Air Act, requires states to submit proposals to lower their carbon emissions or sign on to a federally crafted plan. The Obama administration hails the plan for addressing climate change, while opponents say it could cripple economies in coal-producing states and raise energy costs.
The plan is currently being challenged in court and has yet to go into effect. Several Us states have challenged the plan on the basis that it would have an unprecedented, transformative impact on the energy industry -- especially the coal industry.
A divided US Supreme Court issued a stay of the plan in February. The lawsuit is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The planning document reportedly says if the appellate court doesn't rule by the time Trump takes office in January, he will ask that the case be dismissed due to his planned scraping of the initiative.
