Continental Resources Inc. plans to pivot from natural gas to oil-directed drilling in the latter half of 2021 in response to strengthening crude prices and a tighter supply-demand balance.

Drilling in 2021 is to be mainly focused on the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP) and the mighty Bakken Shale of North Dakota, management said during a conference call Thursday (April 29) to discuss first quarter results.

“In Oklahoma, our oil and gas assets continue to afford us commodity optionality, which is a significant attribute as it provides great flexibility in various commodity environments,” CEO Bill Berry told analysts. “Just as the gas commodity fundamentals last year suggested we should switch to gas-weighted drilling, which we did, we see the fundamentals this...