Granite Ridge Resources

Granite Ridge Resources

Granite Ridge Resources was formed in 2022 through the merger of Grey Rock Energy Partners and Executive Network Partnering Corporation, a SPAC led by former Congressman Will Hurd. The firm operates as a publicly traded, non-operated oil and gas company focused exclusively on acquiring and managing mineral and royalty interests. Luke Brandenberg, who spent a decade at EnCap Investments sourcing upstream private equity deals, leads the firm alongside CFO Matthew Miller. The founding thesis centered on aggregating a diversified portfolio of royalty acres across premier U.S. onshore basins without taking on operational drilling risk. The firm's strategy concentrates on purchasing mineral rights, overriding royalty interests, and non-operated working interests. Granite Ridge assembles its portfolio by acquiring properties directly from operators, landowners, and institutional sellers. By avoiding well-level capital expenditure obligations, the company generates free cash flow driven by operator drilling activity on its acreage. The underlying production spans the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, DJ Basin, and Haynesville — each a region where active operators like Pioneer Natural Resources, Diamondback Energy, and Devon Energy drill. As of early 2025, the firm reported over $1.3 billion in cumulative capital deployed across its acquisition program (per the firm's investor presentation, 2025). The company's public listing on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: GRNT) provides a transparent vehicle for investors seeking commodity upside without the operational complexity of an E&P company. Chairman Griffin Perry, son of former Texas Governor Rick Perry, provides board-level leadership alongside a team of roughly 28 professionals based in Dallas. While Granite Ridge does not operate as a traditional family office or private fund, its formation via SPAC and focus on yield-oriented mineral aggregation distinguishes it from conventional upstream firms. In November 2024, the company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share, part of a variable-return framework designed to pass a majority of discretionary cash flow back to shareholders (per company press release, November 2024). Granite Ridge's structural differentiator lies in its capital-light model. Unlike operator-cos that must continuously reinvest in drilling to sustain production, the firm's royalty positions entitle it to a percentage of revenue from every barrel produced on its acreage. This creates a long-duration asset base with declining cost structures over time. The SPAC origin — a rare structure for a mineral aggregator — provided immediate access to public markets and acquisition currency, a governance choice that positions Granite Ridge alongside master limited partnerships as a hybrid yield-vehicle for institutional energy allocation.