Wolfcamp

Tulsa-based independent Laredo Petroleum Inc. has added 4,475 contiguous net acres in West Texas for $65 million, helping to build its oily footprint in the Permian Basin.

Laredo Petroleum Inc. continues to look for more Permian Basin opportunities after recently bolting on 7,360 net acres in West Texas, the management team said.

Centennial Resource Development Inc., which has placed its flag in the Permian Basin’s Delaware formation, plans to pursue more bolt-on acquisitions this year and continue to explore additional horizons across existing acreage with a lower rig count and reduced spending.

Calling 2019 “a transitional year” and an opportunity to become cash flow neutral, Permian Basin pure-play Laredo Petroleum Inc. slashed its capital budget by more than one-third and said it would continue wider well spacing to address reduced oil productivity.

The Permian Basin’s Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations in the Delaware sub-basin contain an estimated mean of 46.3 billion bbl of oil, 281 Tcf of natural gas and 20 billion bbl of natural gas liquids (NGL) of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources, making it the largest continuous reserves assessment ever, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Parsley Energy Inc. said it has successfully integrated about 95,000 net acres in the Permian Basin into its portfolio, which it said makes it it the second-largest publicly traded operator working in the Midland sub-basin.

Three pure-play operators in the Permian Basin — Diamondback Energy Inc., RSP Permian Inc. and Callon Petroleum Co. — reported increased production and unveiled plans to deploy additional rigs in the play, by year’s end or during the first quarter of 2018.

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. said two wells in the Permian Basin targeting the Wolfcamp formation are outperforming expectations, and four more wells are planned before the producer moves forward to test 660-foot spacing on a four-well pad.

Having successfully integrated several acreage trades, Permian pure-play operator Parsley Energy Inc. said it also completed several delineation projects during the second quarter and raised production guidance for the remainder of the year.