Continental cashing in on oil focus

That has changed as the nation began efforts to wean itself off foreign oil.

Hamm said new technology also has made it easier to extract oil from areas long thought to be untenable for producers.

"There's a lot of opportunity here in America,” he said.

Continental is at the center of one of the biggest areas of opportunity in the U.S.: the Bakken Shale formation in North Dakota and Montana.

"There's a lot going on up there,” Hamm said. "That's the hottest oil play in America today, probably the hottest exploration play — period.”

The Enid-based company has become synonymous with the Bakken. It was the first company to drill a horizontal well there and remains the Bakken's largest leaseholder with about 865,000 acres.

Hamm had estimated the Bakken could yield 8 billion barrels of oil, but he said he now thinks it may hold three times that much oil.

Continental also has high hopes for Oklahoma's Anadarko Woodford Shale, a liquids-rich resource play.

Hume said the play has some similarities to the Bakken, according to tests the company conducted several years ago in Dewey County.

Continental has assembled more than 250,000 acres of leasehold in the area with plans to continue ramping up its drilling schedule there.

"That's going to be a very exciting play for Oklahoma,” Hume said.

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