Continental Resources Successfully Completes Initial Test Well In Third Bench Of The Three Forks Reservoir In The Bakken Field

According to a press release, Continental Resources, Inc., a top 10 petroleum liquids producer in the United States, announced today it successfully completed the first horizontal well to test the third bench (TF3) of the Three Forks zone in the Bakken field of North Dakota and Montana.

Continental has been a pioneer in the discovery and development of the Three Forks reservoir in the Bakken field. They were the first to demonstrate incremental reserves from the First Bench in 2008 and the first to establish commercial production from the Second Bench, lower than the First, in 2011. Establishing production from the Third Bench is yet another significant milestone in the growth of the Company’s assets in the world-class Bakken oil field. If the unit in the Third Bench continues to perform in line with the Second Bench, it will be the first well to establish commercial production in the third bench.

The unit is the first in the Bakken field to have wells producing from three separate horizons the Middle Bakken, First and Second Benches.

Continental estimated in late 2010 that the Bakken field would eventually yield 24 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Boe), based on technology available at that time. This estimate included 20 billion barrels of oil and 4 billion Boe of natural gas, and assumed 577 billion barrels of original oil in place in the Bakken and First Bench. With the addition of oil found in the lower Three Forks benches, Continental now estimates the field has 903 billion barrels of original oil in place, a 57 percent increase.