FORT WORTH, Texas — RKI Exploration & Production LLC is not immune to the effects of the commodity price downturn, but the Oklahoma City-based E&P has positioned itself to ride it out.

Specifically, that position is a contiguous one, concentrated on 90,000 acres of the Permian Basin, mostly in Eddy County, N.M., and Loving and Reeves counties, Texas. Privately owned RKI likes liquids, and this acreage offers liquids-rich, stacked pay opportunities, Ronnie K. Irani, the company’s founder, president and CEO, told attendees at Hart Energy’s DUG Permian Basin Conference & Exhibition.

“We’ve stayed intentionally under the radar and just gone about our business, which is about drilling and finding oil and gas reserves,” Irani said during a session dubbed “Operator Spotlight,” an indication that the quiet company has some things it wants to say.

One of them might be a reminder that not all drilling is horizontal.

“We’ve drilled 118 vertical Delaware [Basin] wells,” Irani said. “I’ll submit to you that the vertical Delaware economics are as good as anything you’ll hear today [at the conference].”

RKI is active in four plays in the Permian, including its current favorite, Wolfcamp. The company has also drilled in the Bone Spring, Avalon Shale and Delaware Basin.

“In the Delaware, you drill vertical wells,” he said. “It’s a very thick section, it’s multi-layered, and vertical wells work best at this point. We drill them on 40-acre spacing. It’s oily and great economics so we’ll continue to do that.”

Irani, an oil and gas industry veteran, founded RKI in 2005 after leaving a senior executive position at Dominion Resources Inc. It was during his time in a previous position at Woods Petroleum Corp. that he gained expertise in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, a prolific oil-based play.

RKI’s operations are focused on the Powder and the Permian. Before prices crashed, the company operated 11 rigs—five in the Powder and six in the Permian. Now it is down to four, including three in the Permian.

“Part of the reason for slowing down was not knowing what was ahead of us as we headed into the dip in oil prices,” Irani said. “We’re currently at four, looking at adding one in each of the basins in the next month or so and by year-end. We plan to get up to six in the Delaware and at least three in the Powder. We feel like it’s picking back up again.”

RKI relies on oil and liquids for between 70% and 75% of its production in both basins. To keep the wells flourishing, the company has relied on technology.

While allowing that costs have come down in the oil patch, Irani pointed to the combination of innovations like pad drilling efficiencies, drilling optimization and zipper fracks that has reduced the price of drilling a well from $9.7 million to $6.8 million in the Wolfcamp.

“We’re looking at a $6.8 million Wolfcamp well,” he said. “Under current pricing, it would give us a 40% rate of return. If you assume a $65 or $70 oil price, we’re looking at upward of 55% to 60% rate of return.”

For a small company, RKI nevertheless ranks relatively high among Delaware Basin producers in rig count and production (30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day). Reaching that level requires the backing of moneyed people who understand the dicey nature of the oil business.

“We have a very strong investor group,” Irani said. “They’ve been with us a long time. They are energy-savvy folks and they understand the long-term potential of reserves. In a way, being a private company, life is good when your partners understand the business.”