Matador Resources said in late July 2026 it would buy Delaware basin assets from two EnCap Investments portfolio companies: Paloma Permian LLC and Ridge Runner Resources II LLC. Oil & Gas Journal put the combined add at producing assets, undeveloped acres, and about 300 net drilling locations, taking Matador’s Delaware holdings to about 240,000 net acres.

The larger check is Paloma. A Matador subsidiary agreed to pay $1.275 billion in cash, subject to customary adjustments, for 16,235 net undeveloped acres in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico, with third-quarter estimated production around 11,100 boe/d (57% oil). Matador said that closing is aimed at the fourth quarter of 2026. Those counties are not a footnote: they are where Delaware laterals, federal minerals, and New Mexico pooling rules show up in the same packet.

Ridge Runner is a different product: primarily undeveloped Woodford acreage in West Texas and southeast New Mexico. Matador said the deal adds more than 150 net operated Woodford locations and, with earlier brick-by-brick adds, a Woodford position of about 50,000 contiguous net acres, centered on its Antelope Ridge area in Lea County and into West Texas. OGJ also noted Matador pointing to early results from a Woodford exploratory well as support for that bench.

Operator inventory is not your mineral estate

Paloma and Ridge Runner are working-interest and undeveloped-location packages. If you already receive a royalty from a Matador, Paloma, or offset operator well, you may see a division-order or pay-deck change after close. That is not a sale of the minerals. A mineral deed in the same season is a separate decision — usually from a buyer assembling net acres next to the new block, not from the NYSE ticker on the press release.

Lea and Eddy letters often mix New Mexico statutes, federal minerals, and survey calls. “Permian” on the envelope does not tell you whether the offer is Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, Woodford, or all depths. Match the legal description, then read the New Mexico location page and the Delaware basin sell page before you notarize anything.

Why Woodford locations change the mail mix

A contiguous undeveloped Woodford pad is how operators talk about remaining laterals. Mineral owners hear it as future wells — and buyers hear it as a reason to mail undeveloped and inherited tracts. Speculative acres still get the same Friday deadline as a producing decimal. The number is an opinion about geology and title, not a posted price. Send a recent stub if you have one; send the letter either way so we can try an offer, a buyer match, or a counter.

Source and what we are not saying

Transaction facts here follow OGJ’s July 23, 2026 report and Matador’s public announcement of the Paloma ($1.275 billion) and Ridge Runner deals. This page is a mineral-owner rewrite, not a copy of either source. It is not investment advice about Matador (NYSE: MTDR) and not legal advice about federal or New Mexico minerals. Mineral Vertex buys minerals and matches owners with buyers.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal. OGJ reported the transactions July 23, 2026. Acreage and production figures also appear in Matador’s company announcement. Not investment advice. Not legal advice. Related: Delaware basin · Energy news · Map.