Today our spotlight turns onto Continental Resources (CLR), an oil producer that can be seen as the poster company for the resurgence of the U.S. energy industry. Note, though, that we’re not recommending that you buy the company. Rather, we’re featuring it because it’s a critical bellwether of U.S. economic and energy strength.

The company recently reported superb results. While most oil and gas companies are struggling to keep production from declining, Continental Resources reported an exceptional 37 percent increase in fourth-quarter oil and gas (mostly oil) production compared to the like year-earlier period. For the entire year, production increased a whopping 58 percent to the equivalent of nearly 100 million barrels of oil a day. Because of increased costs the gains in profits were a bit less impressive, but at $3.36 a share were still well above 2011’s $2.72 a share. The company projected further production gains of 35 percent for 2013. Not surprisingly, the shares gained on the news.