Permian Basin pure-play Laredo Petroleum Inc. reported disappointing initial results for a package of wells that went online late in the second quarter, but management expressed a more encouraging outlook for nearby wells.

“In the second quarter, we completed 11 wells and drilled seven wells,” COO Karen Chandler told analysts during the recent earnings call.

Among those wells, Laredo turned into line some Leech wells in the West Texas Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations. The Leech wells comprise “six 15,000-foot wells in our most southeastern unit in Howard County,” said CEO Jason Pigott.

Pigott said the six-well package in the drilling spacing unit (DSU), a departure from the traditional practice of 12 wells/DSU, remained “in the flow-like stage” with the oil...