Horizontal Drilling

Sinking a jump shot four miles away is similar to what Continental does when we drill a horizontal well. With advanced technology, we are able to place a drill bit in oil reservoirs about the size of a basketball hoop two miles away after drilling two miles down.

Horizontal drilling gives us access to resource plays that were previously not economic to produce. With this technology, we are unlocking oil and natural gas reservoirs throughout the U.S., reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign energy imports.

Protecting Groundwater

The oil and natural gas resources that we target are usually located thousands of feet below freshwater sources. This below-ground water is mainly found in porous rock crevices or between particles of sand. One of the reasons we put special casings around our drilling pipe before we extract oil and natural gas is to protect the freshwater resources. The casing enables us to confine the hydrocarbons so they don’t mix with groundwater as they reach our wells.