Matador forecasts steady production growth from 2024 exit rate

Feb. 19, 2025
Matador Resources' executives plan to complete and turn to sales 144 wells this year, up from 124 in 2024.

Matador Resources Co., Dallas, produced more than 201,000 boe/d in fourth-quarter 2024—a 30% increase from late 2023 and the first time the operator has topped 200,000 boe/d—thanks to better-than-expected performance from new Delaware basin wells and higher production from some non-operated assets.

Matador’s oil production during the last 3 months of 2024 totaled 118,400 b/d, slightly below management’s guidance, but up 34% from the same period a year earlier. Executives noted that third-party midstream constraints (that have since been resolved) limited production by about 3,000 boe/d during the fourth quarter.

Wells Matador picked up earlier in 2024 by buying Ameredev accounted for 23,200 boe/d of the 201,116 boe/d (59% oil) total. Founder, chairman and chief executive officer Joe Foran and his team said the Ameredev assets have produced 11% more oil and gas than they had originally expected (OGJ Online, Oct. 24, 2024). Matador teams also have produced $4 million in drilling and completion savings since September and are on track to grow that number past $150 million over the next 5 years, the company said.

During the fourth quarter, the company completed and turned to sales 33 operated wells (gross) in the Delaware basin. For the year, that number was 124, with nearly half of those sited in the Antelope Ridge region in southeast New Mexico.

In 2025, Matador’s leaders are looking to push gross new wells to 144 and focus more operations on laterals of at least 2 miles. The move is expected to help drive daily production to 202,000-208,000 boe/d, with oil still around 60%. Growth at the top of that range would equial 3.4% from the company’s 2024 exit rate.

Foran expects drilling and completion costs to fall to $865-895 per lateral ft, down from an average of $910 in 2024. Total capital spending, which was $1.32 billion last year, could grow slightly within an epected range of $1.28-1.47 billion.

Matador posted a net profit of $215 million in the fourth quarter, a drop from $255 million in late 2023. Total revenues climbed to $970 million from $836 million but higher expenses meant operating income was down slightly to $360 million.

Shares of Matador (Ticker: MTDR) were down about 1% to $57.22 in late-morning trading Feb. 19. Over the past 6 months, share prices have risen slightly, growing the company’s market capitalization to about $7.1 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.