By Matt Willer, Managing Director of Capital Markets, Phoenix Energy
Every week, I speak with prospective investors who ask the same question: What makes Phoenix Energy bonds different?
As Managing Director of Capital Markets, I’ve spent more than two decades helping investors evaluate fixed-income strategies. At Phoenix Energy, our approach is clear: provide direct access to bond offerings to investors that offer attractive returns and support our continued growth in U.S. oil and gas production—while avoiding unnecessary intermediaries or third-party fees and expenses.
In this article, I’ll walk through the questions I cover during our investor webinars:
Who is Phoenix Energy? How do we operate and how are our Phoenix Energy’s bond programs structured? These are the fundamentals every investor deserves to understand.
Who Is Phoenix Energy?
Phoenix Energy is a privately held, family-founded oil and gas company based in Irvine, California. We are not controlled by large institutions or Wall Street firms. Since our founding in 2019, we’ve grown into one of the most active private operators in the Williston Basin, where we ranked as the 11th largest oil producer in North Dakota as of December 2024.
With over 154 full-time employees and multiple offices across the U.S., we manage a fully integrated platform—drilling, completing, and producing from wells we own and operate. Our asset base includes over 7,000 producing wells and our mission remains focused on generating near-term, high-quality cash flow through disciplined operations.
What Does Phoenix Energy Do?
Phoenix Energy’s operating model is built around three distinct segments—each offering different cash flow profiles and timelines. This multi-pronged strategy gives us the ability to allocate capital where returns are strongest, depending on market conditions.
Here’s how we participate:
- Royalty Interests – We own mineral rights. When third-party operators sell oil and gas, we receive monthly royalty payments—this is passive income with no operating obligations.
- Non-Operated Working Interests – We co-invest in wells managed by companies like Kraken and Occidental. We share in revenues but do not operate the wells, making this another relatively passive investment stream.
- Operated Wells (Phoenix Operating) – This is our most active segment. We acquire mineral rights, drill and complete wells, and sell production ourselves. This division is supported by a proprietary underwriting platform, allowing us to identify and execute on high-value, cash-flowing assets.
Our ability to transition between these segments allows us to adapt quickly to price changes, permitting environments, or development opportunities. It’s a risk-managed approach designed to support both growth and capital preservation.
How Do Phoenix Energy Bonds Work?
Phoenix Energy raises capital directly from investors through the issuance of debt securities—without third-party brokers or private equity firms. This direct model helps us reduce fees and allows investors to speak directly with our licensed professionals who are registered representatives of Dalmore Group, LLC a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC.
We currently offer debt securities through:
- Regulation D 506(c) Offering: Available to accredited investors with a minimum investment amount of $25,000. Offers annual interest rates ranging from 9–13%, depending on investment size and term length.*
- Registered Offering: Launched in May 2025 pursuant to an effective registration statement (including a prospectus), this program is open to qualifying investors in certain states (e.g., Florida, Colorado, Nevada). It does not require an investor to meet the SEC’s definition of accredited, but certain suitability standards must still be met.
In both cases, investors are purchasing debt securities issued directly by Phoenix Energy—not purchasing direct interests in oil and gas assets that we own. All investments carry risk and must be reviewed carefully in conjunction with the offering documentation for the applicable offering.
*Investors have historically received either simple interest (paid monthly) or compounded interest (added to principal). Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Before investing, all participants must review the applicable offering documentation and other materials about Phoenix Energy. All documentation—including the prospectus, financials, and disclosures—is available on the SEC’s EDGAR database or directly at phoenixenergy.com.
Why Are Phoenix Energy Bonds Different?
We operate differently by design.
How we raise our debt securities is different and unlike many firms that rely on third party intermediaries to market and sell their securities, we raise capital in-house and maintain direct relationships with our investor base. Our capital markets team is accessible, experienced, and fully licensed through Dalmore Group, LLC.
Separately, our asset acquisition strategy prioritizes cash flow over speculation. We do not pursue exploratory or “wildcat” drilling. Instead, we focus on assets with relatively short anticipated payback windows—typically between 12 to 24 months—with strong return potential over the life of the asset. Our underwriting platform plays a critical role in helping us identify, select and underwrite opportunities that meet our criteria.
This unique and disciplined approach to raising capital and identifying assets to acquire is what supports our ability to meet our bondholder obligations and pursue sustainable long-term growth.
Understanding the Risks
Like all investments, Phoenix Energy bonds carry risk. We make it a point during each webinar to walk through our risk disclosures in detail and these risks are carefully described in the applicable offering documentation related to our debt offerings. While we’ve satisfied all of our bondholder obligations in the past, future payments depend on operational outcomes, commodity prices, and regulatory developments and future performance cannot be guaranteed.
As our Phoenix Energy CEO, Adam Ferrari, often says:
“We’re stewards of investor capital. Our job is to manage that capital responsibly and build a business that can deliver value across cycles.”
Phoenix Energy’s Track Record and Institutional Support
Phoenix Energy has raised over $1 billion from more than 5,500 individual investors. This is not a startup—we’ve built a full-scale operational platform and have a long-term capital strategy.
To date we have also raised $300 million in a first lien term loan from a leading institutional lender in the energy space. We believe that their participation affirms our belief in the strength of our platform.
Phoenix Energy Reviews
If you’ve searched for Phoenix Energy reviews or wondered, “Is Phoenix Energy legit?”, you’re not alone. These are smart questions—and ones we welcome.
Phoenix Energy is an issuer of debt securities and our capital markets team includes registered representatives of Dalmore Group, LLC with deep experience in capital markets. We require all potential investors to review our offering documents, financials, and SEC filings, all of which are available to the public.
We host weekly webinars, maintain an active investor education platform, and offer direct access to our licensed professionals—based here in the U.S.—who are available to answer your questions and walk through the offerings in detail.
As a private, family-founded company, our reputation is built on transparency, discipline, and communication. We understand that trust isn’t assumed—it’s earned over time.
To learn more or to register for our next investor webinar, visit phoenixenergy.com/webinar.
Matt Willer is Managing Director of Capital Markets at Phoenix Energy. With over 25 years of experience in investment banking and private capital markets, he leads investor education, fundraising, and corporate finance strategy for the firm’s U.S. operations.
Disclosure: Phoenix Energy One, LLC (“Phoenix Energy”) conducts offerings of debt securities pursuant to (i) the exemption from registration provided by Rule 506(c) of Regulation D and (ii) an effective registration statement (including a prospectus) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) (the “Registered Offering”). Certain of Phoenix Energy’s non-executive personnel are licensed registered representatives of Dalmore Group, LLC. These registered representatives conduct securities business through Dalmore, a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. Dalmore and Phoenix Energy are not affiliated entities. Participation in an offering is subject to certain criteria, including meeting financial suitability requirements. The securities offered are speculative, illiquid, and you may lose some or all of your investment. Before you invest, you should read the offering documentation for the relevant offering, including, with respect to the Registered Offering, the prospectus and the other documents Phoenix Energy has filed with the SEC, which you may get for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Phoenix Energy or Dalmore will arrange to send you any applicable offering documents you request. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, or sale of any security, in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. See full disclosures.
This article contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs about future events and market conditions. These statements, identifiable by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “may,” “expect,” “plan,” “should,” and similar expressions, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that may impact these outcomes include changes in market conditions, regulatory developments, operational performance, and other risks described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and Phoenix Energy undertakes no obligation to update them except as required by law.
