Permian Basin

Laredo Petroleum Inc. said Tuesday it is budgeting $530 million for capital spending this year, nearly all for the Upper and Middle Wolfcamp formations of the Midland sub-basin of the Permian, with an eye on raising production volumes by 15% over 2016.

WPX Energy Inc. has struck a $775 million agreement to bolt on more West Texas land to increase its Permian Basin portfolio to 120,000-plus net acres.

Parsley Energy Inc. agreed late Tuesday to pay $607 million to bolt on 23,000 net leasehold acres in West Texas, within the Permian’s Midland and southern Delaware sub-basins.

In a fourth quarter operations update Monday, Ring Energy Inc. released new well results from its development of the Permian Basin’s Central Basin Platform (CBP).

With a focus on the Bakken in North Dakota and Texas properties, San Antonio-based Abraxas Petroleum Corp. is starting its exit from the Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming and Montana as it closed an $11.1 million sale of PRB assets last Tuesday.

The contraction in the Texas upstream oil and gas economy passed the two-year mark in November, according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), a barometer of industry health in the Lone Star State.

The Permian Basin, which led all of North America for activity and acquisitions during 2016, is seeing its streak continue into the new year, as two producers buy West Texas leaseholds and a privately held midstream operator launches plans to expand natural gas takeaway in New Mexico.

Focusing on its “core four” assets in Texas and Western Canada, Calgary-based Encana Corp. said Wednesday it is already on track to surpass the 2017 forecasts it gave during its annual investor day in October.

SM Energy Co. has agreed to sell non-operated Eagle Ford Shale assets, including its interest in related midstream infrastructure, to a unit of Venado Oil and Gas LLC, which is an affiliate of KKR, for $800 million.