Why PHX minerals in the STACK play keeps quietly throwing off cash

PHX Minerals’ STACK play mineral and royalty interests look unspectacular at first glance – no shiny apps, no retail product. But for investors who like simple cheques from oil and gas wells, the low-decline STACK acreage tells a more interesting story.

Reviewed: ad hoc news Accessory & Components desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-17, 11:16. Details in the imprint.

PHX minerals in the STACK play sounds dry until you picture the wells behind it, quietly pumping in Oklahoma while small royalty cheques land in the mailbox quarter after quarter. No app to configure, no gadget on the desk. Just subsurface acreage doing its job.

What the STACK asset is

PHX’s STACK play mineral and royalty interests sit mainly in central Oklahoma, where the Sooner Trend Anadarko basin Canadian and Kingfisher counties have turned into a dense grid of horizontal wells. The company highlights the STACK as one of its core mineral basins alongside the SCOOP and Bakken.

Investors never see the acreage itself, only the result: royalty volumes and cash collected each quarter. PHX reported that in fiscal 2023, STACK volumes helped underpin its total production of 2,428 barrels of oil equivalent per day across mineral and working interests. Behind each number are operators like Continental and Devon running multi-well pads on PHX’s ground.

How the royalties work day to day

Owning minerals in the STACK play means PHX does not pay for drilling and completion when it is in pure royalty mode. Instead, third-party operators bear the capital cost and send PHX a proportion of revenue based on its mineral interest, adjusted for lease terms and post-production costs. For investors, that structure feels like a toll road under the fields.

You will not touch a pumpjack or log onto a smart dashboard. What you notice is that when West Texas Intermediate and Henry Hub prices move, the royalty cheques move too. PHX breaks out that commodity sensitivity in its investor material, showing roughly 57 percent of 2023 production weighted to natural gas and natural gas liquids.

Why the STACK still matters for PHX

On a map, the STACK play looks mature, criss-crossed with lateral wells and infill development. Yet PHX emphasizes remaining inventory and low-decline production on its minerals, describing the STACK and neighboring SCOOP as central to its cash-flow stability. Declines feel smoother than in pure shale oil hotspots.

The company has been reallocating capital toward more gas-weighted basins, but it continues to acquire and high-grade mineral positions in the Anadarko region when pricing makes sense. From an investor’s seat, that means the STACK slice is not a forgotten legacy asset, but part of a measured portfolio strategy.

How it compares with working interests

PHX still holds working interests in certain wells, where it does share in capital and operating costs. In its latest filings, management has been clear that mineral and royalty interests are the priority because of their higher margins and lower capital intensity. Compared with those working interests, the STACK royalties behave more like a lean cash stream.

There is no rig-count risk on PHX’s balance sheet here. If operators pause drilling, new royalty growth slows, but the company does not burn cash on idle equipment. That asymmetry is precisely why management calls minerals and royalties its core business model going forward.

Risks investors should not ignore

The comfortable image of steady cheques can be misleading. Commodity prices remain the big swing factor, and the STACK’s gas and liquids weighting ties PHX to North American gas markets and NGL demand. A mild winter or oversupply phase can quickly flatten distributions.

There is also concentration risk. While PHX spreads its minerals across several basins, the Anadarko region remains a material contributor. If operators change development plans, or if state-level regulation tightens, the pace of new wells on PHX acreage could disappoint cautious investors.

Where the money shows up

For retail investors, the clearest way to feel the effect of the STACK play mineral and royalty interests is in PHX’s reported royalty revenues and adjusted EBITDA. The company typically breaks out production and pricing mix in quarterly presentations, showing how each basin contributes to cash flow. The STACK slice appears there as part of the mineral portfolio rather than a named product line.

PHX has used that cash flow to fund acquisitions of additional mineral acreage, reduce debt, and pay a modest dividend to shareholders. Net-net, the STACK interests work in the background, but their role in smoothing cash generation is larger than the quiet branding suggests.

Context and the PHX share

PHX Minerals Inc positions itself as a pure-play mineral and royalty company with a focus on gas-weighted U.S. basins, including the STACK, SCOOP, Haynesville, and Bakken. That model aims to offer investors commodity exposure without the heavy capital burden of an operator.

Shares of PHX Minerals Inc (US69360J1007) trade on the NYSE American in U.S. dollars.

Key facts on PHX’s STACK minerals

• Product: PHX minerals in the STACK play
• Manufacturer: PHX Minerals Inc
• Category: Accessory/Spare part - energy minerals and royalties
• Launch: Legacy and acquired interests, expanded over multiple years
• RRP / Price: No retail price - value reflected in enterprise valuation and transaction multiples
• Availability: Indirectly via PHX Minerals equity on NYSE American, not as a standalone retail product
• Target group: Retail and institutional investors seeking exposure to U.S. oil and gas royalties with a gas and NGL tilt
• Highlight / USP: Low-capex mineral royalties in a developed U.S. basin, contributing steady cash flow without operatorship risk

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.