Sabalo II Operating, LLC is a privately held oil-focused operator with an active development footprint in the Permian Basin, centered in Andrews County, Texas on the Spotlight lease. The company’s recent drilling program on this lease highlights a disciplined, factory-style shale approach that prioritizes subsurface execution efficiency while deliberately pacing surface infrastructure investment.
Surface & Subsurface Personas: How Sabalo II Develops Wells
Surface Persona
Sabalo II’s surface development strategy on the Spotlight lease is highly concentrated and pad-based. All wells are located within a single block, abstract, and section in Andrews County, drilled from one lease and executed by a single rig—reflecting a tightly coordinated surface footprint that minimizes complexity and supports batched facility and infrastructure build-out.
Subsurface Persona
From a subsurface perspective, the program targets the core Spraberry trend with 100% horizontal oil wells. Consistent well depths averaging roughly 9,300 feet and uniform drilling designs reinforce a repeatable, factory-style subsurface model focused on predictable execution and production outcomes.
Project Cadence: From License to Production Readiness
The project’s cadence illustrates how Sabalo II balances speed and capital discipline. Wells were permitted in late January 2025, with drilling activity commencing approximately six weeks later in mid-March. Drilling was completed in a highly compressed three-day window, followed by completions beginning in mid-April and concluding by early May—placing the full permit-to-completion cycle at roughly two and a half months.
Where the cadence becomes particularly instructive is on the surface side. Facility air permitting was not initiated until early December 2025, roughly nine to ten months after drilling and completion activities. This lag strongly suggests a deliberate strategy to batch surface infrastructure after subsurface execution is proven, aligning facility investment with production timing, midstream availability, and capital efficiency.
Full Project Cadence (License → Production Readiness)
1️⃣ Well Licensing (Project Start)
- First / Average License Date: Jan 28, 2025
2️⃣ Drilling Activity (Spud / Activity Phase)
- First Activity Date: Mar 12, 2025
- Last Activity Date: Mar 15, 2025
- Activity Window Duration: 🟢 3 days
- Avg Days: License → Activity: 43 days
➡️ Extremely tight drilling window
➡️ Clear pad-based / batch drilling execution
3️⃣ Well Completions (Frac Phase)
- First Completed Date: Apr 12, 2025
- Last Completed Date: May 1, 2025
- Completion Window Duration: 19 days
- Avg Days: Activity → Completion: 29 days
- Avg Days: License → Completion: 74 days
4️⃣ Facilities & Surface Infrastructure
- TCEQ Air Permit – Received: Dec 3, 2025
- Days: Avg Permit → TCEQ: 309 days
- Days: Avg Activity → TCEQ: 264 days
📊 Updated One-Line Cadence Summary
Sabalo II permitted wells in late Jan 2025, executed drilling in a compressed 3-day window by mid-March, completed wells within ~2.5 months of permitting, and deferred facility permitting by ~9–10 months—strong evidence of a factory-style shale program with batched surface infrastructure and disciplined capital timing.
Why This Matters
Sabalo II’s approach reflects the evolution of Permian shale development toward operational precision and financial discipline. By executing subsurface work rapidly and deferring surface infrastructure, the company preserves flexibility, reduces upfront capital exposure, and positions itself to scale production efficiently—an increasingly common model among high-performing private operators in the basin.
This cadence-driven development strategy also creates clear signals for service providers, midstream companies, and infrastructure partners about when demand emerges across the project lifecycle, making Sabalo II’s program a strong example of the modern shale “factory” in action.
