List of Publicly Traded Oil and Gas Royalty Trusts Listed on Major U.S. Exchanges

An oil and gas royalty trust is a specialized financial entity that holds interests in producing oil and natural gas properties — such as royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, net profits interests, or leasehold interests — and distributes the resulting cash flows to unitholders. These trusts are passive vehicles with no employees, no management team, and no ability to direct drilling or production operations. They are designed to collect income from third-party operators and pass it directly to investors, typically on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Distributions are generated by the production and sale of oil and natural gas from the properties held by the trust. Because they are tied directly to commodity prices and production volumes — both of which fluctuate — distribution amounts are highly variable. In months where prices fall steeply or operating costs exceed trust revenue (for net profits interest trusts), distributions can be reduced to zero. Most royalty trusts pay monthly distributions, which makes them attractive to income investors, but investors should not assume distribution consistency based on historical payments.

A royalty interest entitles the trust to a fixed percentage of gross production revenue from the underlying properties, regardless of the operator's costs. This structure offers more predictable income since costs are not deducted before the trust receives its share. A net profits interest (NPI), by contrast, entitles the trust to a share of production revenue only after the operator's allowable costs are deducted. During periods of low commodity prices or high operating costs, an NPI trust may receive little or no income even when the properties are actively producing.

Royalty trusts can generate high current income during periods of elevated commodity prices, but investors should understand that a portion of distributions often represents return of capital rather than pure income — meaning the trust is effectively returning your investment as it depletes its reserves. The unit price of a royalty trust will generally trend lower over its life as reserves are produced. As a result, evaluating royalty trusts purely on yield can be misleading; what appears as a high yield may reflect accelerating asset depletion rather than underlying business strength. This information is for educational purposes and does not constitute investment advice.

Tax treatment for royalty trust distributions is complex and varies by trust structure. Investors may receive a Form 1099-MISC, 1099-DIV, or Schedule K-1. A portion of each distribution may be classified as a non-taxable return of capital, which reduces the investor's cost basis rather than triggering immediate income tax — but creates a larger capital gains tax event upon sale of units. Investors are also entitled to claim depletion deductions, which reduce current taxable income but are subject to recapture as ordinary income when units are sold. Given this complexity, investors in royalty trusts should work with a tax professional experienced in oil and gas taxation.

When a royalty trust's underlying reserves are economically exhausted or when production declines below a threshold defined in the trust's governing documents, the trust is dissolved and liquidated. At that point, remaining assets (if any) are distributed to unitholders and the trust's units cease to trade. Prior to termination, trusts may issue reduced distributions for extended periods as reserves deplete. Some trust termination events are triggered by specific conditions such as average production falling below a minimum threshold for a defined number of consecutive months. Investors should review each trust's trust agreement for the specific termination conditions applicable to their holdings.

InvestSnips provides a dedicated Oil and Gas Trust Industry Comparison Widget that displays trend data, earnings per share (EPS), P/E ratio, and beta for each trust on this list. Clicking any trust link in the company list above will also take you to that trust's individual InvestSnips page, where you can access charts, recent news links, and company website and social media information.

Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) are active business entities that typically operate energy infrastructure such as pipelines, storage, or processing facilities, and can reinvest capital to grow their asset base. MLPs issue Schedule K-1 tax forms and have management teams that make operational decisions. Royalty trusts, by contrast, are entirely passive — they hold fixed interests in finite producing properties, cannot reinvest in new assets, and are structured to wind down over time. Some entities on this list, such as Black Stone Minerals LP (BSM), Dorchester Minerals (DMLP), and Kimbell Royalty Partners (KRP), are structured as MLPs but focus on mineral and royalty interests, placing them in a hybrid category between traditional trusts and operational MLPs.