Black Stone Minerals, L.P. is a publicly traded mineral and royalty interest company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its roots trace back to land and timber holdings acquired in 1876 by the Carter family, with the company eventually consolidating those mineral rights into a dedicated energy/mineral enterprise and going public via IPO in 2015.
What sets Black Stone apart is its business model: it owns and manages mineral, royalty, and overriding royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties across the United States. It does not generally act as an operator; rather, it leases its acreage to upstream producers, collecting royalty payments, lease bonuses, and rents when development occurs.
The scale and diversity of its portfolio are major distinguishing features. Black Stone holds interests in millions of gross acres—including mineral interests in ~16.8 million acres, nonparticipating royalty interests (~1.8 million acres), and overriding royalty interests (~1.6 million acres)—spread across 41 states and many of the major U.S. onshore basins. Its holdings include positions in key resource plays such as the Permian Basin, Haynesville/Bossier, Bakken/Three Forks, and Eagle Ford.