Whiting Petroleum Corporation’s Orion Skinner Awarded The 2012 Outstanding Explorer Of The Year By RMAG

Whiting Petroleum Corporation’s ( NYSE:WLL) Orion Skinner has been awarded the Outstanding Explorer of 2012 by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG). Mr. Skinner, who is Whiting’s Senior Explorationist for the Northern Rockies, is credited with the discovery of the Pronghorn Sand productive horizon in southern North Dakota at the Company’s Pronghorn prospect in Stark County. The award was presented to Mr. Skinner on November 17, 2012 at RMAG’s Rockbuster’s Ball.

Mr. Skinner joined Whiting in 2004 as Senior Geologist of the Northern Rockies. He received a Master’s Degree in Geology from the University of Wyoming in 1982 and is a member of RMAG and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Chairman and CEO James J. Volker commented, “Orion epitomizes the quality of our geoscientists at Whiting. He was instrumental in the discovery of several oil fields in the Williston Basin, including our Sanish field in Mountrail County, North Dakota. Sanish field was one of the first Middle Bakken oil discoveries in the Basin. Thanks to Orion’s expertise and vision, we have been able to amass large acreage positions in oil-bearing prospects throughout the Williston Basin at reasonable acreage costs. These positions include Hidden Bench, Lewis & Clark, Missouri Breaks, Tarpon, Cassandra, Big Island and Starbuck.”

About Whiting Petroleum Corporation

Whiting Petroleum Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is an independent oil and gas company that explores for, develops, acquires and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids primarily in the Rocky Mountain, Permian Basin, Mid-Continent, Michigan and Gulf Coast regions of the United States. The Company’s largest projects are in the Bakken and Three Forks plays in North Dakota and its Enhanced Oil Recovery fields in Oklahoma and Texas. The Company trades publicly under the symbol WLL on the New York Stock Exchange. For further information, please visit http://www.whiting.com.

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