Vital Energy, formerly Laredo Petroleum, exits the Permian Basin through a $3.1 billion all-stock sale to Crescent Energy, marking the end of a 15-year journey in one of the world’s most prolific oil provinces.
Crescent Energy is acquiring Vital at what analysts call an attractive valuation, while adding a significant Permian position to complement its existing portfolios in the Eagle Ford and Uinta basins.
The transaction, announced in August 2025, values Vital at approximately $750 million and includes the assumption of around $2.3 billion in net debt. Analysts noted the deal reflects the “relative attractive valuation” of public E&Ps compared to private sellers asking premium prices in the Permian.
Despite a slightly higher premium compared to recent transactions, Crescent is acquiring Vital at less than the value of existing production.
👉For more on how upstream deal activity is shaping up, see $13.5 Billion and Counting: Upstream A&D Rebounds Into 2025
A Sale Under Pressure
Vital’s equity value had already been cut in half since the beginning of 2025 and was down roughly 60% year-over-year, pressured by weak crude prices and a heavy debt load.
The company reported a net loss of $582.6 million in Q2 2025, driven by a $427 million non-cash impairment on its Permian oil and gas assets. Falling oil prices forced a regulator-mandated reassessment of asset values.
KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Tim Rezvan called the sale “a reasonable decision amid a challenging environment for organic deleveraging.”
Rezvan noted Vital’s 2023 buying spree gave it scale in the Permian, but the $880 million acquisition of 80% of Point Energy Partners II in mid-2024 proved a “strategic mistake,” leaving the balance sheet vulnerable when commodity prices fell.
Potential change-of-control payments may have also played a role. Regulatory filings show that CEO Jason Pigott could receive $14.2 million in the event of termination or resignation following the deal, while CFO Bryan Lemmerman stood to earn over $7 million.
From Laredo to Vital
Laredo Petroleum, founded in 2006 by industry veteran Randy Foutch, rebranded to Vital Energy in early 2023. The company helped pioneer horizontal drilling in the Midland Basin, spudding its first horizontal wells in 2009.
Its legacy Midland position in Glasscock and Reagan counties was once considered among the thickest parts of the basin, with more than 4,500 ft of stacked pay. But the acreage was also gassier compared to oil-rich core areas, prompting Vital to aggressively expand.
In 2023, Vital spent $1.8 billion acquiring assets from multiple private Permian players, including Grey Rock, Henry Resources, Tall City, Maple Energy, Forge Energy II Delaware, and Driftwood Energy. The strategy expanded Vital into Howard County and the Delaware Basin.
Vital followed in 2024 by acquiring 80% of Point Energy Partners’ Delaware assets, while Northern Oil & Gas (NOG) took the remaining 20% non-operated stake.
👉 Back in 2023, Vital raised its production outlook and boosted capital spending — details here.
A Scattered Portfolio
By mid-2025, Vital held ~267,300 net acres and ~920 inventory locations across the Permian Basin, producing 136.5–139.5 MBOE/d with an oil cut of 47%.
The portfolio resembled a “shotgun-blast” of scattered acreage pockets, spanning Reeves, Ward, Crane, Upton, Ector, Glasscock, Reagan, and Howard counties.
Operating on fragmented and sometimes stranded leases, Vital experimented with innovative well designs, such as U-turn and J-hook laterals, and tested deeper horizons including the Wolfcamp C, Wolfcamp D, and Barnett Shale.
👉 The Permian remains a basin of enormous value for IOCs as well, as we covered in What Comes After the Permian for IOCs?
Crescent’s Next Steps
Crescent expects the deal to deliver around 1,000 gross drilling locations, but the company plans to scale back activity on Vital’s acreage. Vital had been running four rigs, which Crescent may reduce to just one or two.
The company also intends to divest non-core assets to meet a $1 billion debt-reduction target, potentially selling properties in the Barnett Shale or conventional fields in Wyoming.
Crescent itself was created in 2021 through the merger of Independence Energy (backed by KKR’s Energy Real Assets group) and publicly traded Contango Oil & Gas. Its portfolio today spans the Eagle Ford, Permian, Rockies, Midcontinent, Barnett, and California.
Bottom Line
Vital’s long, acquisition-driven run through the Permian ends under financial strain, while Crescent secures a lower-cost entry into the nation’s most productive basin. The deal underscores the market’s sharp contrast between public and private E&P valuations—and signals further rationalization of scattered Permian portfolios may be on the horizon.
