[crusty old prospector]

There is definitely a huge resource there, similar to the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in Louisiana and Mississippi. It doesn't appear that just taking the same type of completion design from the Bakken or the Eagle Ford is working there. Given time, someone will come up with the right methodology to crack the code. Unfortunately, the companies that are currently working it aren't the major players in the other plays that would bring any expertise.

[Praxeologue]

Is there any geological similarity between the Monterey Shale and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, or is Monterey a one-off? From what basin do you think that technical unconventional expertise would be most useful for application to the Monterey Shale?

[Smokin' Joe]

Actually, Continental Resources is one of the largest, if not the largest interest holder in the Bakken/Three Forks play in the Williston Basin.

They are no slouches when it comes to producing oil, and they are not afraid of innovation. It becomes a question of finding the correct exploration and production strategy and methods, and we had been drilling Bakken Wells in Montana and North Dakota for nearly a decade before most of that was settled on as 'figured out'--even then, pad wells, and innovations in completion techniques still indicate refinements.

The industry is one of innovation, and it will take a little more to put the puzzle pieces together in more complex geology than geology which is more straightforward in terms of structure and tectonic features like faults.