Continental Resources Acquires FireBird Energy II, Adding 32,000 Boed and 54,000 Net Midland Basin Acres

Continental Resources, the Oklahoma City-based operator owned by Harold Hamm and affiliated family entities, has agreed to acquire FireBird Energy II LLC from private equity firm Quantum Capital Group. The deal adds 32,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and 54,000 net operated acres to Continental's existing Midland Basin position. Continental expects the transaction to close in September 2026, subject to customary conditions.

Quantum Capital Group, a Houston-based private equity firm focused on North American energy, developed FireBird Energy II's Midland Basin position after a 2023 partnership with Continental. The acquisition converts that co-investment relationship into full ownership. FireBird Energy II is the second fund in Quantum's FireBird series, developed specifically for the Midland Basin.

Production Profile and Development Inventory

FireBird's production is 69% oil-weighted, with the balance in natural gas and natural gas liquids. Beyond the 54,000 net operated acres, the deal includes 147,000 net resource acres and 307 gross operated development locations spanning more than six stacked-pay reservoir intervals. Continental holds a 95% operated working interest in the acquired acreage, giving the company direct control over drilling pace and completion design.

CEO Doug Lawler described the strategic rationale in a company statement: "The Permian is integral to Continental's portfolio, and we are extremely encouraged by the results we are seeing from our teams and assets in the basin." Continental entered the Permian in 2021, paying Pioneer Natural Resources $3.25 billion for 92,000 net leasehold acres and 50,000 net royalty acres in the basin. Continental describes FireBird as part of a 14-month Permian consolidation effort that expanded the company's operated acreage in the basin by 40%.

Permian Acreage Math and Production Value

Continental reported the deal as a 40% increase in Permian acreage over 14 months, implying a pre-deal operated position of 135,000 net acres when divided into the 54,000-acre increment. The post-close position totals 189,000 net operated acres in the Midland Basin. With 147,000 net resource acres beyond that, Continental's total Midland Basin position following close reaches 336,000 net acres.

FireBird's 32,000 boed at 69% oil weighting produces 22,080 barrels per day of crude. WTI crude settled at $87.06 per barrel on Friday August 21 on the CME, per OilPrice.com. At that settlement, the oil portion of the FireBird acquisition carries an annualized gross production value of $702 million, before royalties, operating costs, and any contribution from gas and NGL volumes.

Harold Hamm's Private Platform and the Pioneer Backdrop

Continental Resources has operated as a wholly private company since Harold Hamm's affiliates paid $4.3 billion to buy out minority shareholders in November 2022. Private ownership allows Continental to pursue acquisition targets outside the earnings-guidance cycle and the disclosure requirements of public markets. The deal continues Continental's private-market acquisition program in the Permian Basin under Hamm family ownership.

ExxonMobil acquired Pioneer Natural Resources in a $59.5 billion all-stock transaction that closed in May 2024, folding Pioneer's Permian assets into ExxonMobil's XTO Energy unconventional operations. Continental's Pioneer-acquired acreage now sits adjacent to the XTO Permian program that ExxonMobil credited for integration gains in its Q2 2026 results, as Oil Authority previously reported. Pioneer's Permian output has become the volume foundation for ExxonMobil's largest capital-return program in years.

Midland Basin Context

The Midland Basin is the eastern sub-basin of the Permian Basin, anchored by the Wolfcamp, Spraberry, and Dean formations across West Texas. FireBird's six stacked-pay intervals allow Continental to sequence development campaigns across multiple productive zones without depleting a single formation. Continental's 95% operating interest across 307 new development locations gives the company full discretion over when and how quickly to drill the inventory.