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Laredo Petroleum Third Quarter 2021 Results

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Laredo Petroleum, Inc. announced its third-quarter 2021 financial and operating results.

Third-Quarter 2021 Highlights:

• Announced second significant acquisition of 2021, agreeing to purchase ~20,000 net acres in western Glasscock County, extending the Company's high-margin, oil-weighted development runway to approximately seven years at current activity levels
• Closed the purchase of the assets of Sabalo Energy, LLC ("Sabalo") in north Howard County and divestiture of 37.5% of the Company's legacy proved developed reserves on July 1, 2021
• Produced an average of 76,703 barrels of oil equivalent ("BOE") per day and 35,329 barrels of oil per day ("BOPD"), a decrease of 13% and an increase of 41%, respectively, versus the third quarter of 2020
• Increased oil cut to 46% of total production in third-quarter 2021 versus 29% in third-quarter 2020
• Incurred capital expenditures of $137 million, excluding non-budgeted acquisitions and leasehold expenditures, completing 18 wells in Howard County during third-quarter 2021
• Initiated the responsibly sourced gas (RSG) certification process and implementation of continuous on-site emissions monitoring of selected facilities
• Published the Company's 2021 ESG and Climate Risk Report, which included Scope 3 emissions estimates and full workforce diversity data

Subsequent Highlights

• Closed the western Glasscock County acquisition on October 18, 2021
• Increased the borrowing base on the Company's senior secured credit facility to $1 billion from $725 million during the facility's semi-annual redetermination

Jason Pigott, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "Over the last two years, we have successfully transformed Laredo by adding oily, high-margin inventory, reducing leverage and continuously improving operational and ESG performance. Driven by seven years of high-quality, oil-weighted inventory and our demonstrated development expertise, we are now positioned to deliver sustainable Free Cash Flow¹ generation and an even stronger capital structure. Our strategy has clearly created value for our shareholders and we will continue to seek accretive transactions where we can apply our proven development practices and ESG leadership."

Third-Quarter 2021 Financial Results

For the third quarter of 2021, the Company reported net income attributable to common stockholders of $136.8 million, or $8.56 per diluted share, which included a $95.2 million non-cash gain on sale of oil and natural gas properties, net. Adjusted Net Income¹ for the third quarter of 2021 was $29.4 million, or $1.84 per adjusted diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the third quarter of 2021 was $133.4 million.

Operations Summary

In the third quarter of 2021, Laredo's total production averaged 76,703 BOE per day, including oil production of 35,329 BOPD. The Company's oil cut has increased substantially as packages of wells developed on the oil-weighted acreage acquired over the last two years are building Laredo's oil production base.

During third-quarter 2021, Laredo completed 18 wells and turned-in-line 19 wells. Laredo continues to realize a long-term positive trend in drilling and completions efficiencies and maintained an average drilling, completions and equipment cost per well of approximately $525 per foot. Although efficiency gains are currently helping to offset industry-wide service cost inflation, the Company anticipates further inflationary pressure in 2022.

Well performance in third-quarter 2021 was strong as well packages with optimized spacing continued to demonstrate high productivity. The wider-spaced Davis and West/Southwest packages in Central Howard are currently outperforming initial tighter-spaced packages in Central Howard by 24% and 36%, respectively, based on average oil productivity. The Vince Everett and Satnin/Josephine packages in North Howard, both developed by Sabalo prior to the closing of the transaction, are confirming the acreage quality of the North Howard acquisition. The Vince Everett development supports Laredo's assumptions for spacing and productivity for co-developed bounded and semi-bounded wells in North Howard and the Satnin/Josephine package, comprised of unbounded parent wells, is outperforming expectations.

During the third quarter of 2021, Laredo maintained its exemplary flaring/venting performance and began to integrate the recently acquired North Howard assets. Excluding the acquired assets, Laredo flared/vented 0.55% of produced gas during the quarter. Through the first nine months of 2021, excluding North Howard assets, the Company flared 0.37% of produced gas, down from 0.71% during full-year 2020. Including the North Howard assets, during third-quarter 2021, Laredo flared/vented 1.89% of produced gas. The increase is primarily related to third-party takeaway constraints associated with the acquired North Howard production facilities. Beginning in fourth-quarter 2021 and into 2022, Laredo plans to make investments to upgrade the acquired facilities to meet its current environmental standards and work with multiple third-party gathering and processing providers to improve reliability. Once complete, and assuming no third-party takeaway issues, Laredo expects the flaring/venting performance of these assets to be commensurate with the Company's other assets.

The Company is currently operating two drilling rigs and one completions crew. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, Laredo expects to temporarily add a third drilling rig that will be utilized through the end of the first quarter of 2022. The Company expects to complete 18 wells and turn-in-line 24 wells during fourth-quarter 2021.

Operational and General and Administrative Expenses

Unit lease operating expense ("LOE") for the third quarter of 2021 was $4.23 per BOE, reflecting increased diesel costs and increased workover activity and other costs associated with integrating the Sabalo acquisition in north Howard County. Beginning in fourth-quarter 2021, the Company expects unit LOE to be approximately $4.25 per BOE, driven by increased diesel costs and generator usage, anticipated increased workover activity and continued optimization of artificial lift designs associated with the new acquisition areas.

Cash long-term incentive plan ("LTIP") expense of $0.29 per BOE for third-quarter 2021 was higher than forecast and is reflective of the 47% increase in Laredo's stock price from the time of forecast. At a current stock price of approximately $80, the expected expense for fourth-quarter 2021 is $0.35 per BOE.

Incurred Capital Expenditures

During the third quarter of 2021, total incurred capital expenditures were $137 million, excluding non-budgeted acquisitions and leasehold expenditures. Total investments were lower than expected, primarily related to the timing of activities during the period. Total investments were comprised of $115 million in drilling and completions activities, $9 million in land, exploration and data related costs, $7 million in infrastructure, including Laredo Midstream Services investments, and $6 million in other capitalized costs.

The Company expects fourth-quarter 2021 capital investments to be approximately $120 million and is maintaining the previous expectation of $420 million for full-year 2021.

Liquidity

At September 30, 2021, the Company had outstanding borrowings of $30 million on its $725 million senior secured credit facility, resulting in available capacity, after the reduction for outstanding letters of credit, of $651 million. Including cash and cash equivalents of $51 million, total liquidity was $702 million.

On October 20, 2021, as part of the semi-annual borrowing base determination, the Company's borrowing base was increased to $1 billion. Laredo and the member banks maintained the previous elected commitment level of $725 million.

At November 1, 2021, the Company had outstanding borrowings of $160 million on its $725 million senior secured credit facility elected commitment, resulting in available capacity, after the reduction for outstanding letters of credit, of $521 million. Including cash and cash equivalents of $86 million, total liquidity was $607 million. The balance reflects borrowings utilized to close the western Glasscock County acquisition on October 18, 2021.