Matador's $1.255B Permian grab adds 156 locations
Plus: a $15B LNG Canada split and a Bakken gas line with 2028 dirt work
🔥 The Big One
Matador's $1.255B Paloma deal puts 156 Permian locations in play
Matador Resources closed its $1.255 billion Paloma acquisition from EnCap, adding about 16,500 net acres in Eddy and Lea counties, New Mexico. The package comes with more than 156 net drilling locations across at least nine target benches, plus 59 approved drilling permits. Matador plans to start drilling up to 25 wells on the acreage by year-end 2027, and output has run about 10% above its underwriting since June 1, 2026. Matador will lay out its fourth-quarter plans in early November, so water, trucking, pad and completions crews in southeast New Mexico should get in front of that.
Read the full breakdown →✍️ Editor's Take
The big awards are landing: LNG Canada Phase 2 is locked in, Coastal GasLink is expanding, and Bakken East is sanctioned. Meanwhile contractors laid off a record-low 99,000 workers in August, with 251,000 jobs open, and hourly pay is up 4.2%. Work is not the problem right now. Hands are. If you're bidding, build labour escalation into your numbers and lock in your key people before the big packages open. Crews that wait for the bid lists will be paying up for talent.
FieldNews Staff
This Week in 60 Seconds
- Fluor and JGC lock up LNG Canada Phase 2
Fluor and JGC split $15B at Kitimat, but subcontract scopes and bid dates aren't out yet.
- MDU pulls the trigger on Bakken East
A 1.4 Bcf/d North Dakota gas line hit FID, with four compressor stations and construction set for 2028 to 2030.
- Project Star: $22B gas campus for Encinal, Texas
A 6.47 GW gas-fired campus is planned, with first power as early as 2029. No EPC named yet.
- HDD worker killed, $165,514 penalty proposed
OSHA cited a willful violation after a worker was struck by a rotating pipe stem during bit replacement.
- Construction pay climbs 4.2% on data center pull
Hourly pay hit $41.69, up from $40.01 a year ago, as specialty trades add jobs.
📍 Where the Work Is
- Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico 🔥 HOT: Matador closed its Paloma buy and is lining up new drilling on the acreage, so Permian service crews should watch for its early November plan.
- Kitimat and Dawson Creek, BC: LNG Canada's Phase 2 got the green light and Coastal GasLink is adding compressor stations along its route, so both ends of the corridor will need hands.
- North Dakota Bakken: WBI Energy's Bakken East gas line hit FID, setting up pipeline and compressor station work later this decade.
📍 Where the Work Is, by region
Public tenders and project starts from the last 7 days. A job listed in two regions counts in both.
Appalachia & Northeast
26 public tenders · 1 project start
- Tender · Massachusetts · Oct 1
- OpenAI's Ohio mega data center complex to start construction next year · Oct 1
- Tender · Materials Testing & Inspection · Maine · Oct 2
Texas & Gulf Coast
10 public tenders · 14 project starts
- Comstock and SOCAR formalise $1.6bn Haynesville Shale partnership - Offshore Technology · Sep 29
- Matador's $1.3B Paloma Deal Already Beating Expectations - hartenergy.com · Oct 3
- Comstock and SOCAR sign framework agreement for $1.65bn Haynesville partnership · Sep 29
Rest of US
15 public tenders · 9 project starts
- A 200-ton steel valve stands between a lake dug into a Tennessee mountaintop and the power plant buried 1,000 feet below, it gets touched… · Oct 1
- Advanced reactor construction permit issued for Clinch River Nuclear Site - Knoxville News Sentinel · Sep 30
- Tender · Concrete · Florida · Oct 2
Rockies & Plains
13 public tenders · 5 project starts
- MDU Takes FID on $2.7B to $3.2B Bakken East Gas Pipeline in North Dakota · Oct 1
- Citizen Energy brings eight Anadarko basin wells online, plans 12 more · Oct 2
- Citizen Energy Has Eight Anadarko Wells Online, Up to 12 Next · Aug 31
Western Canada
5 public tenders · 11 project starts
- AER well suspended: Axiom Oil and Gas Inc. near Viking (06-22-045-12W4) · Sep 20
- Fluor-JGC JV Wins LNG Canada Phase 2 Expansion Contract - ChemAnalyst · Sep 29
- Tender · British Columbia · Sep 29
Eastern Canada
9 public tenders · 6 project starts
- Stelco to lay off up to 500 workers amid production shift, citing U.S. tariffs · Sep 29
- Tender · Mechanical & HVAC · Nova Scotia · Oct 2
- 150-home, mass-timber development in Huntsville marks MCLT's first official housing initiative · Oct 1
West Coast
11 public tenders · 2 project starts
- Sable adds four perforation jobs at Platform Hondo ahead of Q4 restart · Sep 29
- Hilcorp gets go-ahead for two Paxton Pad wells on Kenai Peninsula · Sep 28
- Tender · Road Construction · Oregon · Oct 1
International
3 public tenders
- Tender · Water & Sewer Systems · JP-14 · Sep 30
- Tender · Waste Management · DE-RP · Sep 29
- Tender · Germany · Sep 28
🟢 Open Windows
Bids, packages, and decisions with a clock on them.
Early Nov 2026
Matador Paloma fourth-quarter drilling plans. Matador details Q4 plans for Eddy and Lea counties, NM; up to 25 wells by end of 2027.Proposals due May 2027
Sagamore Bridge replacement, Cape Cod. MassDOT's $2.5B design-build RFP is out. Project labour agreement applies.Construction starts fall 2026
Big Creek Tunnel, Cleveland. Granite and Super Excavators start the $324.8M NEORSD rock tunnel with shafts and utility work.
👷 Crew Market: Construction hourly pay is up 4.2% year over year to $41.69, and contractors laid off just 99,000 workers in August, a record low, with 251,000 jobs open.
📈 The Number
$15B
That's the combined value of the Fluor and JGC award for LNG Canada's Phase 2 at Kitimat, with each partner booking $7.5 billion. The award is firm, but how much goes to subs and when packages open hasn't been disclosed.
Construction Dive, citing Fluor's news release
On Your Radar
- Oct 15Oklahoma Oil & Gas Expo. Oklahoma City, OK
- Early NovMatador fourth-quarter plan update. Watch for Paloma rig and well timing
- Nov 2026Senate transmission permitting amendments. Bill would end utilities' right of first refusal
- Nov 20OSHA HazCom deadline. Update labels and training for aerosols, flammable gases
- PendingTrump signature on License to Drill Act. Keeps BLM permit review fund going a decade
Get The Field Report
The week in oil & gas and heavy construction: market data, the big story, and where the work is. Every Sunday, in 60 seconds.
You're in. The Field Report lands Sunday.
Look for it in your inbox Sunday morning.
Something went wrong. Please try again.
Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.