Derivative Instruments - Summary of Outstanding Contracts with Respect to Natural Gas (Detail) - Natural Gas [Member]	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016 MMBTU $ / MMBTU $ / bbl
October 2016 to December 2016 Swaps [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Natural Gas Production Derivative Volume, MMBtus \| MMBTU	34,870,000
Swaps Weighted Average Price \| $ / MMBTU	3.09
January 2017 to December 2017 Swaps
Derivative [Line Items]
Natural Gas Production Derivative Volume, MMBtus \| MMBTU	25,550,000
Swaps Weighted Average Price \| $ / MMBTU	3.35
January 2017 to December 2017 Collars
Derivative [Line Items]
Natural Gas Production Derivative Volume, MMBtus \| MMBTU	65,700,000
Floors, Weighted Average Price \| $ / MMBTU	2.47
Ceilings, Weighted Average Price \| $ / MMBTU	3.08
Minimum [Member] \| January 2017 to December 2017 Collars
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative, Floor Price \| $ / bbl	2.40
Derivative, Cap Price \| $ / bbl	2.92
Maximum [Member] \| January 2017 to December 2017 Collars
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative, Floor Price \| $ / bbl	3.00
Derivative, Cap Price \| $ / bbl	3.88

Natural gas production derivative volume

No definition available.

Name:	clr_NaturalGasProductionDerivativeVolume
Namespace Prefix:	clr_
Data Type:	num:energyItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The average cap rate on a group of price risk derivatives such as caps or collars. A payment or receipt is triggered if the market rate exceeds the cap rate on the contract.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeAverageCapPrice
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The average floor rate on a group of price risk derivatives such as floors or collars. A payment or receipt is triggered if the market rate falls below the floor rate on the contract.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeAverageFloorPrice
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The cap rate on a price risk derivative such as a cap or collar. A payment or receipt is triggered if the market rate exceeds the cap rate on the contract.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeCapPrice
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Floor rate on a price risk derivative such as a floor or a collar. A payment or receipt is triggered if the market rate falls below the floor rate on the contract.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeFloorPrice
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Average fixed price related to the group of price risk swap derivatives.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeSwapTypeAverageFixedPrice
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=clr_April2016toDecember2016SwapsMember
Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TradingActivityByTypeAxis=us-gaap_NaturalGasReservesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=clr_JanuaryTwoThousandSeventeentoDecemberTwoThousandSeventeenSwapsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=clr_January2017toDecember2017CollarsMember
Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

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