Continental Resources

Continental Resources, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Petroleum industry
Predecessor	Shelly Dean Oil Company
Founded	1967
Founder	Harold Hamm
Fate	Taken private in November 2022
Headquarters	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Harold Hamm (founder)
Products	Petroleum, natural gas
Owner	Affiliates of Harold Hamm (since November 2022)

Continental Resources, Inc. operates as a company focused on the exploration and production of petroleum and natural gas, with its main office located in Oklahoma City. Originally established in 1967 by Harold Hamm under the name Shelly Dean Oil Company, it adopted the name Continental Resources in 1990. The firm is recognized for utilizing hydraulic fracturing alongside directional drilling techniques to recover resources from formations with low permeability. It launched its initial public offering in May 2007 and subsequently returned to private ownership in November 2022 following acquisition by entities affiliated with Harold Hamm.

History

The enterprise was created in 1967 by Harold Hamm as Shelly Dean Oil Co. and underwent rebranding to become Continental Resources in 1990.

In 1995, Continental identified the Cedar Hills Field located in North Dakota, which ranks as the seventh largest onshore field within the contiguous United States based on liquid proved reserves, and led advancements in precision horizontal drilling at this site.

The company made its entry into the Bakken formation in 2003, achieving the first commercially viable horizontal well combined with hydraulic fracturing there by 2004.

Continental Resources went public through an IPO in 2007, during which founder Harold Hamm divested approximately $300 million worth of shares.

By 2008, the firm had completed the inaugural horizontal well within the Three Forks zone. Two years later, it introduced the ECO-Pad® method, enabling the drilling of four wells from a single pad to decrease expenses and enhance production efficiency.

In 2012, the headquarters were relocated from Enid, Oklahoma to Oklahoma City.

The company divested non-essential assets totaling $222 million across North Dakota and Montana in 2016, followed by a sale of 26,000 acres in the Arkoma Basin for $68 million in 2017.

Continental expanded its footprint significantly in 2021 by acquiring a combined total of 142,000 net acres—92,000 leasehold and 50,000 royalty—in the Permian Basin from Pioneer Natural Resources for $3.25 billion.

In November 2022, Continental Resources was taken private once again after affiliates linked to Harold Hamm completed a $4.3 billion acquisition.