Continental Resources sees production rise, but profits fall

Continental Resources said Wednesday production from the Bakken reserve area in the Northern Plains increased 23 percent year-on-year, though profits were down.

The company said net production from the Bakken field, spread out over much of North Dakota and Montana, totaled 108,573 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the second quarter, an 11 percent increase from the first quarter and 23 percent year-on-year.

Nearly 90 percent of the output came from North Dakota, where output increased 13 percent from the first quarter of the year.

Continental boasted that cumulative oil production from the Bakken reserve reached the 1 billion barrel mark at some point during the first quarter.

The company is the largest producer, driller and leaseholder in the Bakken field, which it says may be the largest oil field discovered in the world in more than 40 years.

The company said its quarterly profit, however, was down 68 percent.