Bakken pioneer Continental Resources is expanding drilling into deeper targets in the Williston Basin, data show.
North Dakota state data show Continental drilled a horizontal well targeting the Winnipeg bench, a formation that lies well below the middle Bakken.
The Winnipeg Formation lies under the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River benches. According to Enverus analyst Ryan Hill, the “Winnipeg consists of two distinct layers: a basal sandstone and the overlying shale-dominated icebox member, which provides the source and seal to the hydrocarbon potential.”
The middle Bakken Formation has been the Williston’s main target for essentially the past 25 years. The first fracked horizontal well in the formation came online in May 2000 in a remote corner of eastern Montana.
The Bakken has produced over 6 Bbbl of oil across North Dakota and Montana, most of it since the horizontal drilling boom in the early 2000s.
But as the Bakken matures and core inventory declines, Williston E&Ps are looking into other benches for drilling runway in the basin.
Winnipeg Formation
The Shadowcat 1-31H well was spud in October 2024 in eastern Divide County, North Dakota. The well was completed on Jan. 7, 2025, according to Enverus data.
Continental hit the Winnipeg bench at a measured depth of 12,437 ft. The middle Bakken is encountered at depths of around 8,000 ft to 10,000 ft.
“It’s considerably deeper than everything around it,” said Brandon Myers, head of research for Novi Labs.
Production data reported to the state is limited. Shadowcat 1-31H reportedly produced only about 151 Mcf/d over 39 days in February and March, according to state data.
No production has been reported since March, and the well is currently listed as shut in. New well records and production results can be held confidentially by the state for at least six months after a well is completed.
Continental Resources declined to comment on the Winnipeg project.
So far, Continental has been tight-lipped about its new Williston exploration efforts. Continental President and CEO Doug Lawler declined to share which formations were being tested during his presentation at Hart Energy’s SUPER DUG 2025 Conference & Expo in Fort Worth this summer,
“I’m not going to tell you right now,” he said with a grin.
RELATED
After 25 Years, E&Ps Sustain Bakken Oil’s Long Plateau
Bakken boom
Before the middle Bakken emerged as a commercial success, Williston Basin operators were drilling both vertical and horizontal wells into a variety of oily stacked pay zones.
These Williston zones were well known to Continental Resources Founder and Chairman Harold Hamm. He’s explored most of them over the decades.
Before the Bakken boom, Hamm’s Continental and Burlington Resources were leading producers in the Cedar Hills Field, landing horizontals in the thin, tight Red River B dolomite. Burlington was later acquired by ConocoPhillips.
Williston operators have tapped dozens of other zones, including Madison, Sanish, Lodgepole and Three Forks.
As operators search for new horizontal inventory in the Williston, their focus is expanding beyond the Bakken bench.
Speaking Aug. 18 during the 2025 EnerCom Denver conference, Vitesse Energy’s director of investor relations and business development Ben Messier said, “Continental is currently drilling a well targeting the Winnipeg Formation.”
Vitesse has non-operated interests in over 7,000 wells across 30 Williston operators, giving it a broad lens into development around the basin.
Messier said the deeper Three Forks, underneath the Bakken, has also seen more development over time.
“Since 2013, 380 wells have been drilled in the middle Three Forks and about 50 wells have been drilled in the lower Three Forks,” he said.
“The potential remains for more resource to be extracted from these deeper formations,” Messier said.
The super-tight Three Forks Formation includes four distinct benches, but the lower three were increasingly less economic in early exploration.
The deeper benches, however, could become commercially viable with modern drilling and completion techniques, Continental’s Lawler suggested at SUPER DUG.
RELATED
Continental Resources Tests More Layers of Williston Basin Oily Rock