Continental Resources Announces Agreements To Purchase Bakken Assets For $650 Million And To Divest East Region Assets For $125 Million

OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CLR) announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire certain Bakken producing and undeveloped properties for $650 million. The property includes leasehold of approximately 120,000 net acres, primarily in Divide and Williams counties, North Dakota, and production of approximately 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boepd).

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Continental is currently the largest leaseholder in the Bakken, with 984,040 net acres as of September 30, 2012. If completed, the proposed acquisition will increase this total to 1.1 million net acres.

In addition, Continental announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its producing crude oil and natural gas properties and supporting assets in its East Region for cash proceeds of $125 million. The East Region primarily includes properties east of the Mississippi River, including the Illinois Basin and the state of Michigan, among other areas. Production from the properties included in the sale agreement averaged approximately 1,100 Boepd for the three month period ended September 30, 2012.

"We are divesting non-core, conventional assets and re-investing the proceeds in an attractive acquisition that further builds our strategic, core position in the Bakken," said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Continental operates a large portion of the acreage that we are acquiring, and more than half of it is held by production."

If the Bakken acreage acquisition is completed as planned, the Company expects additional 2013 drilling capital expenditures will be largely offset by incremental cash flow from the properties.

Both transactions are expected to close prior to December 31, 2012 and remain subject to customary closing conditions and adjustments.

About Continental Resources

Continental Resources is a Top 10 petroleum liquids producer in the United States. In October 2012, the Company announced a new five-year plan to triple production and proved reserves by year-end 2017. The Company's growth plan is based on developing its industry-leading leasehold in the nation's premier oil play, the Bakken of North Dakota and Montana, as well as its position in the SCOOP and Northwest Cana plays of Oklahoma. The company reported total revenues of $1.6 billion for 2011. Visit www.clr.com for more information.

Cautionary Statement for the Purpose of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements included in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, but not limited to, statements or information concerning the Company's future operations, performance, financial condition, production and reserves, schedules, plans, timing of development, returns, budgets, costs, business strategy, objectives, and cash flow, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "could," "may," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project," "budget," "plan," "continue," "potential," "guidance," "strategy," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and assumptions about future events and currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable and based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that such expectations will be correct or achieved or that the assumptions are accurate. When considering forward-looking statements, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements described under Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, registration statements and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other announcements the Company makes from time to time.

The Company cautions readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control, incident to the exploration for, and development, production, and sale of, crude oil and natural gas. These risks include, but are not limited to, commodity price volatility, inflation, lack of availability of drilling and production equipment and services, environmental risks, drilling and other operating risks, regulatory changes, the uncertainty inherent in estimating crude oil and natural gas reserves and in projecting future rates of production, cash flows and access to capital, the timing of development expenditures, and the other risks described under Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, registration statements and other reports filed from time to time with the SEC, and other announcements the Company makes from time to time.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in this press release occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, the Company's actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This cautionary statement should also be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that the Company, or persons acting on its behalf, may make.

Except as otherwise required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

SOURCE Continental Resources

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