Permian Resources raises guidance on heels of cost gains, acquisitions

The company completed $180 million worth of ground-game deals during the third quarter, almost all of them in New Mexico. But executives will “wait and see what the macro brings” before committing to a 2026 plan.

Geert De Lombaerde

Nov. 6, 2025

3 min read

Key Highlights

Permian Resources lowered drilling and completion costs to about $725/lateral ft, a 3% improvement from earlier guidance.
The operator's third-quarter production reached nearly 187,000 b/d of oil and over 410,000 boe/d total, driven by new well pads and aquired operations.
Permian Resources completed about $180 million in small transactions, adding 5,500 net acres, primarily in the Northern Delaware basin.
The company’s capital spending for the quarter was $480 million.

After reporting a quarter in which their teams lowered drilling and completion costs by 11% versus 2024, the leaders of Permian Resources Corp., Midland, say 2026 “is setting up to be the most capital-efficient year” in the company’s history.

Permian Resources averaged nearly 187,000 b/d of oil production and a little more than 410,000 boe/d of total production during the 3 months that ended Sept. 30. Those figures were up 16% and 18%, respectively, from the same quarter of last quarter, and include some former APA Corp. operations the company acquired in June.

Will Hickey and James Walter, the company’s co-chief executive officers, said the quarter’s production was also boosted in part by new pads, including one in Winkler County, Tex., that comprises 17 wells.

The company’s drilling and completion (D&C) costs during the quarter were about $725/lateral ft, down from about $800 a year earlier and roughly $950 in 2023. At the $725 level, D&C costs are about 3% below the guidance Hickey and Walter gave investors early this year. Lower service costs have played a part in that, Hickey told analysts on a Nov. 6 conference call, but the fundamentals play a role.

“We are continuing to get better in the field and I don’t see—at this crude price and based on activity levels […]—cost snapping back anytime soon,” he said. “I think there’s probably more upside.”

Permian Resources’ capital spending during the quarter was $480 million and the operator remains on track to spend around $2 billion for the year. Looking ahead to 2026, Walter said his team is prepared to flex capex and production up or down based on the broader economic picture.

“We think it’s setting up to be the most capital-efficient year we have ever had,” he said, pointing to price realization and recently signed natural gas contracts in addition to efficiencies in the field. “Next year should be a really good, strong year for Permian Resources but we’re going to wait and see what the macro brings before we formalize a plan.”

Transactions, raised guidance

Permian Resources completed about 250 small transactions worth roughly $180 million in all during the third quarter. Those deals added about 5,500 net acres and about 2,400 net royalty acres to the company’s portfolio and have about 800,000 boe/d (67% oil) of total production.

The Northern Delaware basin in New Mexico was the big focus during the quarter, with 95% of that $180 million being dedicated there on locations that Hickey said “fit like a glove.”

On the back of the third quarter, executives raised full-year production guidance by about 2% to about 181,000 b/d of oil and 394,000 boe/d total. During the quarter, Permian Resources booked a net profit of $81.5 million on sales of $1.32 billion. Profits were down year over year due to the booking of $264 million loss from buying back some debt; operating income was essentially flat at $391 million as lower average sales prices offset top-line growth.

Shares of Permian Resources (Ticker: PR) were up more than 5% to about $12.80 on the heels of the company’s report and conference call. Over the past 6 months, they have climbed about 7%, growing the company’s market capitalization to nearly $11 billion.

About the Author

Geert De Lombaerde

Senior Editor

A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has more than two decades of business journalism experience and writes about markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications Healthcare Innovation, IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal and T&D World. With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati and later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal. Most recently, he oversaw the online and print products of the Nashville Post and reported primarily on Middle Tennessee’s finance sector as well as many of its publicly traded companies.