American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2024 - 48

SpecialReport: Williston Basin Activity
wells in an average of 8.9 days, including
one well in a record 7.4 days.
Williston Leader
Where lease configurations allow, Continental
Resources is drilling three-fourmile
laterals to increase capital efficiency
as it extends the boundaries of Tier 1
acreage, says John Argo, vice president
of Williston operations for the Oklahoma
City-headquartered company.
" We are looking to maximize lateral
lengths wherever we can, " he explains.
" We and others are seeing more potential
in areas that historically have been outside
the core. We have some limitations on
maximizing lateral lengths because of existing
infrastructure and the way the land
is already set up, but where the opportunity
exists, we are pursuing. By maximizing
these longer laterals and leveraging our
latest development techniques, we are extending
the core of the field. "
A Williston Basin leader since completing
the unconventional Robert Heuer
1-17R in Divide County, N.D., in 2003,
Continental continues to research how to
improve recoveries from the prolific Bakken.
In addition to optimizing new wells, Continental
is also investing in recompletions
and piloting enhanced oil recovery across
its nearly 800,000-acre position.
In March, the company was running
five rigs in Dunn County, in the heart of
its lucrative core position. Still, Continental's
Williston team continues to expand
its central position and develop acreage
to the west in Montana, north in Divide
County, and farther south, Argo says.
Continental is producing north of
200,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in
the Williston and plans to spend approximately
$1 billion this year in the basin.
2024 plans include drilling and completing
around 125 new wells, performing about
a dozen refracs, and progressing an EOR
project with a view to improving longterm
recovery. Work this year follows a
strong performance in 2023, according
to Argo.
" Our team did a phenomenal job and
broke the record for Continental's overall
total production from the Williston last
year, " he comments. " This is an awesome
testament to all the work our team has
done as it still breaks records after Continental's
more than 20-year unconventional
history here. "
Efficiencies also are improving as the
company continues to build and connect
water recycling infrastructure to reduce dependence
on freshwater supplies. Improvements
are partially driven by Continental's
conversion in late 2022 from a public to a
private company, Argo says, a move that
freed 20% of the team's time to focus more
on projects that maximize value.
Drilling with multiple rigs on the same
pad and utilizing simultaneous fracs to
speed completions are improving cycle
times dramatically, he points out.
Although it is planning a dozen refracs,
Argo says Continental may do more as it
assesses potential recompletion designs
and identifies prospects based on reservoir
characteristics, estimates of OOIP, initial
production and decline profiles, and original
completion designs.
The company is in the early stages of
testing and researching refrac designs. A
Bakken well refrac can exceed $5 million
compared with a new Bakken well cost of
about $7 million, he reveals, but notes
that efficiencies will grow as Continental
and others test refrac designs in the Williston
and elsewhere to maximize the value.
With more than 90% of oil remaining
in place even after all the Williston development
from the last 20 years, Continental-along
with other companies
and universities-also is researching the
best EOR methods to boost yields from
the Bakken and Three Forks benches,
Argo reports.
Bakken play pioneer Continental Resources is extending lateral lengths to both redefine the
boundaries of Tier 1 acreage and economically develop noncore acreage while also
conducting refracturing tests and exploring potential EOR techniques that ultimately can
help recover the huge amount of original oil still in place even after years of production.
48 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
" It is a big prize, and we are investing
in EOR in multiple areas across our portfolio
to determine how we can unlock
and capture incremental barrels from existing
plays, " he says.
Growing The Market
The Williston Basin's days are far
from numbered as new players seek
drilling opportunities and established
companies continue to add inventory
through bolt-ons and M&A, says Preston
Page, president of Dakota Energy LLC,
an aggregator of working, mineral and
royalty interests.
With 90% of proved, developed and

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2024

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