PERMIAN BASIN ROYALTY TRUST ANNOUNCES DECEMBER CASH DISTRIBUTION, EXCESS COST POSITION ON WADDELL RANCH PROPERTIES AND RESULTS OF SPECIAL MEETING CALLED BY SOFTVEST
Rhea-AI Summary
Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT) declared a cash distribution of $0.013198 per unit, payable Jan 15, 2026, to holders of record Dec 31, 2025. The December distribution excludes Waddell Ranch proceeds because November Production Costs exceeded Gross Proceeds, creating an excess cost position.
Texas Royalty Properties contributed $754,012 from net profits; Trust paid $615,176 after G&A of $138,836 to 46,608,796 units. At a Dec 16, 2025 special meeting, ~59.9% of outstanding units favored SoftVest's nonbinding amendment proposal.
Positive
- Distribution declared of $0.013198 per unit payable Jan 15, 2026
- Texas Royalty net contribution of $754,012 to distribution
- Trust will disclose Waddell quarterly data in Form 10-Q/10-K moving forward
Negative
- Waddell Ranch in a continuing excess cost position for November
- Oil volumes fell ~17% month-over-month in Trust allocation
- December distribution decreased due to lower oil volumes and pricing
News Market Reaction – PBT
In the Dec 19 session, PBT declined 0.83%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | 24h Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-17 | Monthly distribution | Negative | -7.1% | Lower distribution and ongoing Waddell excess-cost position weighed on sentiment. |
| 2025-10-21 | Monthly distribution | Negative | -3.4% | Distribution excluding Waddell proceeds and continued excess costs at Waddell Ranch. |
| 2025-09-19 | Distribution & settlement | Positive | -2.4% | Large distribution boosted by first $4.5M installment of $9M settlement. |
| 2025-08-19 | Litigation settlement | Positive | +3.1% | Announcement of $9M settlement and improved terms with Blackbeard. |
| 2025-08-19 | Monthly distribution | Negative | +4.3% | Distribution from Texas Royalties only amid Waddell excess-cost and ongoing litigation. |
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Recent monthly distribution announcements with ongoing Waddell Ranch excess-cost issues often saw negative or mixed price reactions, while litigation/settlement headlines drew more supportive or divergent trading.
Over the last few months, the Trust has repeatedly reported cash distributions driven solely by Texas Royalty Properties while Waddell Ranch remained in an excess-cost position. Prior releases on 2025-10-21 and 2025-11-17 highlighted excluded Waddell proceeds and upcoming governance-focused meetings, with generally negative price reactions. Separate litigation and settlement updates in August and September 2025 introduced a $9 million recovery from Blackbeard, partially bolstering prior distributions. Today’s news continues the themes of lower distributions and Waddell excess costs, alongside the outcome of the SoftVest-led special meeting.
Key Terms
net profits interest financial
Mcf technical
Form 10-Q regulatory
Form 10-K regulatory
trust indenture regulatory
non-binding proposal regulatory
judicial reformation regulatory
record date financial
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
This month's distribution decreased compared to the previous month due primarily to the Texas Royalty Properties having lower oil volumes, along with lower oil pricing, partially offset by higher natural gas volumes and pricing for the month reported.
WADDELL RANCH
Information from Blackbeard, the operator of the Waddell Ranch properties, necessary to calculate the net profits interest ("NPI") proceeds for a given month is received after the announcement date for the month's distribution. As a result, in accordance with the Trust indenture, if NPI proceeds are received from the Waddell Ranch properties on or prior to the record date, they will be included in the following month's distribution.
As noted above, no proceeds were received by the Trustee in November 2025 to be included in the December distribution. All excess costs, including any accrued interest, will need to be recovered by future proceeds from the Waddell Ranch properties before any proceeds are distributed to the Trust. Due to the fact that Blackbeard provides production, pricing and cost information quarterly instead of monthly, the Trustee will be disclosing that information in the quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual reports on Form 10-K for the foreseeable future (to the extent timely received from Blackbeard).
Production for the underlying Texas Royalty Properties was 13,834 barrels of oil and 12,089 Mcf of gas. The production for the Trust's allocated portion of the Texas Royalty Properties was 11,957 barrels of oil and 10,456 Mcf of gas. The average price for oil was
Underlying Properties | Net to Trust Sales | |||||
Volumes | Volumes | Average Price | ||||
Oil | Gas | Oil | Gas | Oil | Gas | |
Current Month | ||||||
Waddell Ranch | (3) | (3) | (3) | (3) | (3) | (3) |
Texas Royalties | 13,834 | 12,089 | 11,957 | 10,456 | ||
Prior Month | ||||||
Waddell Ranch | (3) | (3) | (3) | (3) | (3) | (3) |
Texas Royalties | 16,337 | 10,723 | 14,356 | 9,425 | ||
(1) These volumes are net to the Trust, after allocation of expenses to Trust's net profit interest, including any prior period adjustments. | |
(2) This pricing includes sales of gas liquid products. | |
(3) Information is not being made available monthly but may be provided within 30 days next following the close of each calendar quarter. To the |
General and Administrative Expenses deducted for the month, net of interest earned were
The worldwide market conditions continue to affect the pricing for domestic production. It is difficult to predict what effect these conditions will have on future distributions.
SPECIAL MEETING
Today, the Trustee announced, that at the special meeting of the Trust's unitholders held December 16, 2025 called at the request of SoftVest Advisors, LLC ("SoftVest") and certain other unitholders holding in excess of
The 2024 Annual Report with Form 10-K, which includes the December 31, 2024, Reserve Summary, has been filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. Permian's cash distribution history, current and prior year financial reports, tax information booklets, and a link to filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all can be found on Permian's website at http://www.pbt-permian.com/. Additionally, printed reports can be requested and are mailed free of charge.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Any statements in this press release about future events or conditions, and other statements containing the words "estimates," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "may," "intends," and similar expressions, other than historical facts, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Factors or risks that could cause the Trust's actual results to differ materially from the results the Trustee anticipates include, but are not limited to the factors described in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of the Trust's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and Part II, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Trustee's views as of the date hereof. The Trustee anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change. However, while the Trustee may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Trustee's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
Contact: Nancy Willis, Director of Royalty Trust Services, Argent Trust Company, Trustee, Toll Free – 1.855.588.7839
SOURCE Permian Basin Royalty Trust