History in North Dakota and the Bakken
Written by Fort Union from the public sources listed below; bracketed numbers refer to that list.
Origins and the early Bakken
Continental Resources was founded in 1967 as Shelly Dean Oil Company and renamed Continental Resources in 1990 [1]. North Dakota's regulators and press today describe Continental as a leader in the Bakken credited with advancing the horizontal drilling that set off the boom [2].
Public company, then private again
Continental went public in May 2007 and in 2010 introduced a pad-drilling method it called ECO-Pad, which drills several wells from one pad; it moved its headquarters from Enid to Oklahoma City in 2012, and in 2016 sold North Dakota and Montana assets for $222 million [1]. In 2021 it bought Permian acreage from Pioneer Natural Resources for $3.25 billion, and in November 2022 affiliates of its founder acquired the shares they did not already own for $4.3 billion in cash, taking the company private [1]. Its annual report for 2025 confirms that effective November 22, 2022 Continental became a privately held corporation with no publicly available common shares [3].
Current footprint
Continental's annual report for 2025 states that at December 31, 2025 it held 814,197 net acres in the Bakken (1,277,406 gross), of which 713,602 net were developed and 100,595 undeveloped. Fourth-quarter 2025 Bakken production averaged 204,524 barrels of oil equivalent a day, including 128,961 barrels of oil a day; the Bakken represented 23% of the company's proved reserves and 43% of its fourth-quarter production [3]. The same filing says Continental participated in drilling and completing 189 gross (99 net) Bakken wells in 2025, against 242 gross (96 net) in 2024, and reports proved Bakken reserves of 401 million barrels of oil equivalent, down 28% from a year earlier, with an inventory of 321 gross (162 net) proved undeveloped drilling locations [3].
The Department of Mineral Resources' 2026 top-ten slide ranks Continental third, at 36.15 million barrels (13.0% of state production) through August 2026, essentially tied with ConocoPhillips [4]. State well counts compiled by a third-party aggregator show Continental with the most operated wells on record in North Dakota, mostly in Williams County, which is consistent with its long history in the state but is not an official ranking [5].
2026: a pause, then a restart
In January 2026 Continental announced a temporary pause in new North Dakota drilling when oil was near $60 a barrel, marking, according to North Dakota Monitor, the first time in 30 years the company had no rig operating in the state [6]. On May 21, 2026, at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, the founder said Continental would put crews back to work in North Dakota before the end of 2026, without giving a rig count other than that it would be 'meaningful' [6][7]. The state's top oil regulator welcomed the news and said the announcement signals some certainty around higher prices for a bit longer [6].
The DMR's active-rig list, as read on October 25, 2026, showed two Continental Resources rigs, both on wells in Williams County [8].
Owner relations at a glance
Continental's contact structure is split: division orders go by mail to its Division Orders department, while owner relations answers by phone and email; both appear on our index card. Continental has also acquired and sold North Dakota and Montana acreage over time, so royalty owners should confirm the paying entity and owner number on their statements if they were previously paid by another company.
Relevant news and sources
The sources this history was drawn from, in the order they are first cited. Links were checked when this page was built.
- Continental Resources (history and references) — Wikipedia, read Oct 25, 2026. Secondary summary; footnotes cite press releases, Forbes, the Financial Times and the Williston Herald.
- Continental Resources to resume oil drilling in North Dakota this year (company described as leader in the Bakken) — KFYR-TV / North Dakota Monitor, May 22, 2026.
- Continental Resources Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — SEC, filed 2026.
- Director's Cut, October 2026: Top 10 oil producers in ND (slide 18) — ND Department of Mineral Resources, Oct 20, 2026. Year-to-date oil production through August 2026.
- Largest Oil & Gas Operators in North Dakota (well counts on record) — Buckhead Energy (third-party data aggregator), read Oct 25, 2026. Aggregator data, shown for context only.
- Continental Resources to resume oil drilling in North Dakota this year — North Dakota Monitor, May 21, 2026.
- Continental Resources Announces Return to Bakken Drilling in 2026 — Bakken Wire, May 24, 2026.
- Active Drilling Rig List — ND Department of Mineral Resources, read Oct 25, 2026. Live page that changes daily; counts quoted here are as read on Oct 25, 2026.
Logos are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify each company; their use does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by Fort Union Minerals. Ranking basis: 2026 year-to-date oil production through August, million barrels; source: North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Director's Cut (October 20, 2026), slide 18.
