Greeting from the Redneck Riviera!
Here is a list of the Traditional Royalty Trusts and the Royalty Trust L.P.s that I track, I have owned about half of these over the last 20/25 years.....This is probably not a complete list of these types....
Traditional:
CRT (I own shares)
PRT
ECTM
CHKR
MARPS
SBR
PBT
MVO (On life-support....Terminates next year)
PVL
SJT
MTR
NRT (Controlled/Operated out of some dudes house in Keene NH, can be terminated at his discretion)
HGTXU (Dead man walking)
Non-Operator Model:
GRNT
L.P. Types:
KRP
DMLP *I would like to own again.
BSM
I have shares in these two outfits home-based in Canada:
FRHLF
PREKF
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From Grok:
There is a meaningful structural and legal difference in the Oil & Gas industry between traditional Royalty Trusts and entities that are royalty-focused but organized as Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) that happen to have “Royalty Trust” or similar wording in their marketing or historical name.Here’s the practical breakdown:
Feature
Traditional Royalty Trusts (e.g., Canadian trusts or U.S. fixed-term trusts)
Royalty-focused MLPs that are sometimes called “Royalty Trusts” (e.g., many with L.P. in the name)
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Legal structure
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Usually a fixed-life trust (statutory trust or business trust)
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Master Limited Partnership (MLP) — a publicly traded partnership
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mail
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Yes (most are set up under Canadian law or U.S. state trust law)
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Yes (Delaware or Texas limited partnership)
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Tax treatment for U.S. investors
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Generally not eligible for the 20% qualified business income deduction; distributions are often treated as return of capital + ordinary income
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Almost always qualifies as an MLP ? investors receive a K-1 and generally get the 20% QBI deduction (subject to rules)
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Termination date
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Almost all have a fixed termination/liquidation date (often 20–25 years or when reserves are depleted)
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Perpetual life — no mandated wind-up date unless the partnership agreement says otherwise
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Ability to borrow money or acquire new properties
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Very restricted or prohibited (pure pass-through of existing royalty cash flow)
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Usually allowed (can issue debt, make acquisitions, drill, etc., if the GP decides)
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Management
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No active management; trustee simply distributes net royalty income
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General Partner (GP) actively manages; can grow or shrink the asset base
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Typical examples
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• Sabine Royalty Trust (SBR)• San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (SJT)• Permian Basin Royalty Trust (PBT)• Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGTX, now terminated)• Mesa Royalty Trust (MTR)• Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (CRT)• VOC Energy Trust (VOC)
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• Dorchester Minerals, L.P. (DMLP) — minerals/royalty MLP• Black Stone Minerals, L.P. (BSM) — large royalty & mineral MLP• Kimbell Royalty Partners, L.P. (KRP) — royalty MLP• Viper Energy Partners LP (VNOM) — Midland Basin royalty MLP• Sitio Royalties Corp. (STR) — started as MLP, later converted to C-corp
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Investor K-1
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Yes
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Yes
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Typical marketing name
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Almost never has “L.P.” in the official name
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Almost always ends with “L.P.” (Limited Partnership)
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Key takeaway most investors care about:- If the ticker has L.P. in the name (DMLP, BSM, KRP, VNOM, etc.), it is an MLP, not a classic royalty trust. It is perpetual-life, can grow by acquisition or drilling, and generally qualifies for the 20% qualified business income deduction.
- If it is a true Royalty Trust (SBR, SJT, PBT, etc.), it is a fixed-life trust with a termination date, no active management, no borrowing, and declining production over time. Distributions are mostly return of capital, and it does not qualify for the 20% QBI deduction in most cases.
So the presence of “L.P.” in the name is actually a very reliable quick indicator that you are dealing with an MLP, not a traditional terminating royalty trust, even though both own royalty/mineral interests and both issue K-1s. |
