Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources testing reveals more Bakken oil

The Oklahoma City-based oil company said it successfully completed the first test well into a rock layer below the already booming Bakken Shale field in North Dakota and Montana.

“You're looking at another significant step in the development of this world-class oil field,” said Jack Stark, Continental's senior vice president of exploration. “We will be doing additional tests, but this is very encouraging.”

The Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana contains up to five rock layers that Continental executives believe are producible.

To date, almost all of the more than 5,000 wells in the region have targeted either the uppermost Bakken Shale layer or the Three Forks 1, which lies just below.

Two wells have been drilled in the Three Forks 2, and Continental's newest well is the first to target the Three Forks 3. The Oklahoma City company plans to drill to the deepest Three Forks 4 next year.

“It's pretty exciting. You never know until you get the bit in the ground as to what you're going to ultimately find,” Stark said.

Continental said in late 2010 that the Bakken contained about 577 billion barrels of original oil in place, with 24 billion barrels of oil equivalent recoverable based on current technology.