Somewhere, Tom Ward has a divining rod and it’s not the kind that leads to water. Since the launch of Okla. City-based MACH Natural Resources in 2017, Ward has stuck to his intuition to find wealth in under-performing plays in the Mid-continent. Over time, it’s become his signature to snap up lagging or bankruptcy assets in the Anadarko, Southern Kans., and the Texas Panhandle and turn that business around.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest from MACH, which raised $190 million in net proceeds from its IPO on Day One in 2023. Two weeks later, MACH acquired Paloma Partners Anadarko assets for $815 million. The company closed two acquisitions last year in the Anadarko Basin of Kans., and the Ardmore Basin of Okla. It seemed MACH had discovered its niche in the Mid-Continent. But like they say, not so fast, cowboy. Those divining rods have a way of leading one out of their comfort zone. MACH Natural Resources has now picked up two acquisitions with red-carpet entries into the Permian and San Juan in a combined $1.3 billion deal.

Assets include:

•  130,000 net acres in the Permian’s Central Basin Platform and Eastern, Northern, and Northwest Shelves. 1Q production was about 11 MBOED, of which 98% was liquids
• 570,000 net acres in the San Juan. 1Q production was about 60 MBOED, of which 94% was natural gas