A Fully Permitted, Factory-Style Development Awaiting Execution
Continental Resources, Inc. continues to apply a disciplined, manufacturing-driven development model across its unconventional portfolio, and the Nobles White pad in Midland County, Texas is a clear example of that approach in action.
This project is now fully permitted from wellbore to facility, with all regulatory milestones complete. The pad is positioned to move directly into drilling and completion once capital and operational schedules align.
Project Overview
- Location: Midland County, Texas
- Play: Permian Basin – Midland Basin
- Lease: Nobles White
- Development Style: Pad-based, horizontal shale development
- Status: Fully permitted; awaiting drilling and completion
All wells and facilities are concentrated within a single county, lease, and section, reinforcing a tightly controlled surface footprint designed for repeatability and execution efficiency.
Surface Persona — Centralized & Purpose-Built
The surface profile reflects a single-lease, section-level pad development, with all permits clustered in Midland County. Permits group cleanly by Block, Abstract, and Section, confirming intentional surface planning rather than scattered or opportunistic well placement.
This structure supports a factory-style surface layout, where roads, utilities, and facilities are sized to support multiple wells from a centralized location, minimizing surface disturbance while maximizing operational efficiency.
Sub-Surface Persona — Standardized & Repeatable
Subsurface design is equally disciplined. All wells target the same field, are drilled as horizontal oil and gas wells, and share an identical projected depth of 12,260 feet. There is no depth variance, indicating a single, well-defined landing zone rather than experimental or exploratory drilling.
This consistency signals pad-level co-development within one landing target, optimized for execution speed, predictable drilling performance, and streamlined completions — hallmarks of a shale manufacturing model.
Project Cadence — From Well Permit to Facility Readiness
The permitting timeline clearly illustrates a sequenced, factory-style cadence, where subsurface authorization is quickly followed by surface infrastructure clearance.
Nobles White Pad — Permit Timeline
| Permit Type | Permit / Project | Key Date | Status | What It Signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Well Permits | Nobles White Wells | December 4, 2025 (First License Date) | Approved | Pad-level drilling authorization issued as a coordinated batch |
| Facility Air Permit | Nobles White 2032 CTB | January 19, 2026 (Received & Completed) | Complete | Surface infrastructure cleared to support production facilities |
The roughly six-week gap between well permitting and facility authorization is intentional. Facilities were permitted before drilling begins, removing downstream bottlenecks and ensuring that surface infrastructure will be ready as soon as wells are completed.
The Factory Model in Practice
The Nobles White pad demonstrates how Continental Resources continues to industrialize shale development:
- Standardized horizontal well designs
- Centralized, pad-level surface infrastructure
- Sequenced permitting that eliminates idle time
- Clear handoff from regulatory approval to execution
This is not exploration. It is manufacturing — a repeatable process designed to convert inventory into production with minimal friction.
Bottom Line
The Nobles White project is a fully permitted, execution-ready pad built around standardized subsurface targets and centralized surface infrastructure. With regulatory risk removed and facilities approved ahead of drilling, the project now simply awaits drilling and completion to move efficiently from permit to production — exactly as a factory-style shale program is intended to operate.
