Public E&Ps sprinkled small deals throughout the first quarter of 2017 as earnings results revealed details this week about Permian Basin bolt-ons, expansion in the Merge Play in Oklahoma and even a deal in the West Yellow Creek Field in Mississippi.

WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE: WPX) added 17,900 net acres in Culberson County, Texas for $38 million—at an unusually low $2,100 per acre. The leasehold is deemed “exploratory in nature,” WPX said. Terms for the acreage include a single well commitment in 2018 and two in 2019 before ramping up to five wells between 2020 and 2021.

In March, WPX completed its $775 million bolt-on of 8,100 net acres from Panther Energy Co. II LLC and Carrier Energy Partners LLC. The acquired acreage includes 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) of existing production and 920 gross undeveloped locations.

WPX is also considering a joint venture (JV) for the Stateline oil gathering system and natural gas processing infrastructure. The evaluation process is on track with an agreement expected midyear as planned.

Seaport Global Securities said WPX’s crude line is now 50% installed and has 10,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of throughput capacity.

Laredo Petroleum

Laredo Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: LPI) spent first-quarter 2017 growing production (13% compared to first-quarter 2016) and completed 12 horizontal development wells that averaged about 9,900 ft.

But Laredo also added to it largely contiguous acreage block concentrated in Glasscock and Reagan counties, Texas. The company’s bolt-ons and acquisitions added at least 1,397 net acres since January when it reported its total position consisted of 124,654 net acres.

As of March 31, its leasehold increased to a reported 126,051 net acres, according to company presentations.

Laredo said it spent about $12 million on land acquisitions. With no reported production, the base price for the bolt-on deals was about $8,600 per acre—far below average prices in the Midland Basin.

Laredo typically buys acreage at advantageous prices. In July, the company announced a deal for 9,200 acres at an average price of about $12,000 per acre.

The company also reported it has identified more than 2,000 locations that support lateral lengths of 10,000 ft or more.

Jones Energy

On May 3, Jonny Jones, founder, chairman and CEO of Jones Energy Inc. (NYSE: JONE), said 2017 will mark a transition year for the company’s Oklahoma operations. Jones Energy will shift from a Western Anadarko (Cleveland) focus to the Eastern Anadarko’s Merge, where leasing and acquisition activity have increased its territory there.

In the first quarter, the company picked off $12.4 million in capex, with $11.1 million capturing leases in the Merge.

Overall, Jones Energy added 3,688 net acres in the Merge for an average price of $7,500 per acre. As of May 3, the company had added 21% of additional acreage to bump its Merge holdings to 21,724 acres.

In 2016, the company initially acquired 18,000 net acres in Canadian and Grady counties, Okla., for $136.5 million. The initial transaction value was about $7,600 per net acre with 330 million barrels of oil equivalent of unrisked resource potential.

Jones Energy continues to aggressively seek opportunities to grow the asset through acquisitions, leasing and pooling, the company said.

Legacy, Denbury

Other companies that reported small acquisitions included Legacy Reserves LP (NYSE: LGCY), which spent about $4.8 million acquiring additional Midland Basin leasehold that added 24 gross potential horizontal drilling locations.

Denbury Resources Inc. (NYSE: DNR) also announced a JV agreement in which the company acquired 48% nonoperated working interest in the West Yellow Creek Field in Mississippi for $16 million. The field is already being converted to a CO₂ EOR field. Denbury agreed to sell CO₂ to the operator.

Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.