Continental Resources Stops Bakken Drilling For First Time in 3 Decades

(File image)

(KNOX) – For the first time in more than 30 years, North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation will be without drilling rigs operated by Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources Inc., the company’s founder announced in an interview with Bloomberg.

The shutdown decision comes as falling oil prices have eliminated profit margins for Bakken operations, according to Hamm, who spoke with Bloomberg News over the phone.

“There’s no need to drill it when margins are basically gone,” said Hamm, 80, the billionaire oilman whose company pioneered modern drilling techniques in North Dakota’s oil fields.

Continental Resources’ exit from active Bakken drilling represents a turning point for the region where Hamm first demonstrated that hydraulic fracturing could unlock vast oil reserves trapped in shale rock. Those innovations transformed the U.S. into the world’s leading oil producer.