Continental Resources: Deeper Three Forks Could Be A Real 'Game-Changer'

Continental Resources (CLR) announced on December 3 that it successfully completed its first horizontal well, the Charlotte 3-22H, to test the third bench (TF3) of the Three Forks zone in the Bakken field. The announcement is significant as it provides another important data point validating Continental's thesis that the lower three benches of the Three Forks interval represent separate oil reservoirs that can be produced commercially. In the press release, Continental made a strong statement that "with the addition of oil found in the lower Three Forks benches, which includes the TF2, TF3 and TF4, the Company now estimates the [Bakken] field has 903 billion barrels of original oil in place, a 57 percent increase" from the...