Tulsa-based Vital Energy said last week it signed an agreement to buy assets of another Midland Basin driller, Driftwood Energy Operating, for $215.6 million in cash and stock ($127.6 million cash). The deal includes 11,200 net acres (16,500 gross, 91 percent held by production) in Reagan and Upton counties with current production of about 5,400 boed (63 percent oil). Jason Pigott, president and CEO of Vital (formerly Laredo Petroleum), said Feb. 14, “This purchase strengthens Vital by expanding our footprint into Upton County, adding high-return inventory and a new development area in the Midland Basin.”
The assets extend Vital’s oil-weighted inventory with about 30 operated horizontal locations (23 net) in Wolfcamp B that Vital plans to develop within three years. The inventory also includes four DUC wells.
