Out Fox The $treet

After a couple of years testing wells and developing infrastructure in the Permian Basin, Laredo Petroleum ( NYSE: LPI     ) now appears set up for fast growth driven by a couple of prime catalysts. The Permian Basin is quickly becoming a favorite investment area with Concho Resources ( NYSE: CXO     ) and Pioneer Natural Resources  ( NYSE: PXD     ) grabbing investor attention. The basin is located in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico and provides some infrastructure benefits over other new shale plays. Investors are starting to realize the massive resource potential with the realization of the stacked zones in the play after years of successfully drilling vertical wells. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long LPI. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

As the Permian Basin gains attention, investors need to become more acquainted with Concho Resources ( NYSE: CXO     ) . The company is a leading pure-play operator in the basin, producing over 20% production growth and generating solid profits. While the company's stock has surged recently, it is cheap compared to fellow Permian operator Pioneer Natural Resources ( NYSE: PXD     ) . It also offers an important lesson to investors focused on the attention-grabbing companies such as SandRidge Energy ( NYSE: SD     ) . While SandRidge Energy was busy making deals for assets, Concho Resources quietly built up a solid acreage position and is now reaping the rewards of strong production growth. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Over the last couple of years, Pioneer Natural Resources  ( NYSE: PXD     ) has quickly developed into an oil major with a massive reserve base in the Permian Basin. Unfortunately, the company has garnered a stock valuation that equally matches the potential for production growth. At $28 billion, the stock now trades for seven times expected 2014 revenue. After the divestiture of Alaska and Barnett shale assets, Pioneer Natural Resources is now focused on developing the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale acreage with a net recoverable reserve potential of more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

It might sound counterintuitive to buy a company after it encounters multiple operational issues, but in some situations the quality of assets and management team warrant such a move. In the case of Laredo Petroleum Holdings ( NYSE: LPI     ) , the company has fantastic acreage in the suddenly hot Permian Basin. Note that Pioneer Natural Resources ( NYSE: PXD     ) has suggested the Permian Basin contains more than 50 billion barrels of oil equivalent, making it the largest domestic oil field. Laredo also has an executive team that has developed and successfully sold multiple exploration companies in the past.   Read the full article here . Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.