Matador Resources Co. plans to begin drilling as many as 25 wells on acreage acquired from EnCap-backed Paloma Permian LLC by year-end 2027, the company said as it confirmed the $1.255-billion purchase has closed.

The acquired position spans about 16,500 net acres in Eddy and Lea counties, New Mexico, most of it held by production. Matador counts more than 156 future drilling locations on the acreage, normalized to 2-mile laterals, across nine or more prospective benches. The company said 59 drilling permits are already approved on the Delaware basin acreage — a head start that shortens the gap between closing and spud.

The deal adds producing assets currently flowing an estimated 12,200 boe/d in the third quarter, roughly 55% of it oil. Matador said production from the acquired properties has beaten underwriting estimates by about 10% since June 1, driven largely by strong performance from recently drilled wells in Eddy County.

On the reserves side, the acquisition brings an estimated 55 MMboe of proved reserves, 67% oil, with a PV-10 value of about $816 million, according to company materials.

The Paloma purchase is one of three moves reshaping Matador's Delaware basin footprint. Together with the pending acquisition of Ridge Runner Resources II LLC acreage and leases picked up in the May 2026 federal lease sale, Matador expects its Delaware basin position to reach about 240,000 net acres in fourth-quarter 2026 — nearly 20% above its October 2025 acreage position.

Chairman and chief executive officer Joseph Wm. Foran said the acquired acreage holds some of the highest hydrocarbon resources per acre in the Lower 48 and should create value across both upstream and midstream lines as it is integrated into Matador's wholly owned midstream system and its 51%-owned San Mateo Midstream system.

For the midstream arm, the tie-in matters as much as the wells. Every incremental barrel from Eddy and Lea counties can move through gathering and processing infrastructure in which Matador holds direct economic interest, converting drilling growth into fee-based volumes.

The well count gives a sense of pace: 25 wells across roughly two and a half years is a measured development cadence rather than a sprint, consistent with acreage that is largely held by production and under no lease-expiry pressure. The 59 approved permits give Matador flexibility to accelerate if service costs and oil prices support it.

The Ridge Runner acquisition remains the open item. Until it closes, the 240,000-net-acre target and the timing attached to it rest on completion of that transaction as well as integration of the federal leases from the May 2026 sale.

Watch for the first Paloma-area spuds and any revision to Matador's 2026 capital guidance as the company converts the permitted inventory into a drilling schedule. The performance of those Eddy County wells against the 10%-above-underwriting benchmark already set since June 1 will shape how quickly the 156-location inventory moves from prospectus to production.