Continental Resources Pushes Ahead in STACK Despite 1st Quarter Losses

 

STACK

Despite first-quarter losses of more than $198 million, Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources is moving ahead with plans to increase oil production in the remaining months of 2016.

It already increased production in the first three months of the year and in its quarterly report issued this week, the company said it expects to exit the year between 190,000 and 200,000 Boe per day which is an increase of 10,000 barrels a day.

“A key factor driving our strong first quarter results is the exceptional performance of our over-pressured Meramec wells in STACK,” said Jack stark, President and Chief Operating Officer. “These wells are delivering some of the highest rates of return in the country.”

He cited three wells that had production rates ranging from 810 barrels a day up to 1,559 of daily production. Consequently, Continental plans to carry out expanded drilling operations in the STACK, having recently started drilling its first STACK density pilot at the Ludwig unit in Blaine county.

The company said the Ludwig density pilot is the first of three density pilots the company plans to drill in 2016 to determine optimum well spacing for future field development. It will be an eight-well density test in the over-pressured oil window of STACK including the original Ludwig 1-22-15XH and seven new Meramec wells.

Because of the success in STACK, Continental recently added 15,000 net acres to its over-pressured STACK leasehold in the first quarter, a move that increased the firm’s leasehold position to nearly 171,000 acres in Blaine, Dewey and Custer counties.

Continental Resources, a company with a well-known history of initial exploration in the Bakken field of North Dakota and Montana said its operations there continue to improve because of enhanced slickwater and hybrid completions. The company said it continues to reduce lease operating expense in the Bakken and saw expenses reduced by $3.1 million a month, down from 25% from the first quarter of 2015.