Invest in American energy — with your eyes open.
Most sites about oil & gas investing are written by someone selling a deal. This one is written from the operator's chair. I'm the CFO of the Pheasant oil & gas entities — I build the well-economics models, valuations, and tax systems behind real drilling capital, and I invest my own money in this asset class. This site teaches the RESERVES framework: the eight tests I run before a dollar goes downhole.
Free · Educational only · Not an offer — nothing here is for sale
Everything a direct energy investor needs to understand
Six in-depth guides, written to be read in order — or jump straight to the question you came with.
The RESERVES Framework
The start-here guide: the 8-point system a working oil & gas CFO uses to evaluate every deal — Rock through Shelter.
Start here →DPPs & Working Interest
Direct participation programs explained: how drilling partnerships are structured, general vs. limited interests, and what to check before you sign.
Understand the structure →Tax Benefits
IDC deductions, percentage depletion, and the working-interest exception — the real rules, with worked examples.
See the tax math →Oil & Gas Royalties
Income without drilling risk: how royalty interests work, how they're taxed, and how to value a royalty stream.
Learn royalties →Mineral Rights
What mineral rights are, what they're worth per acre, and how buying, selling, leasing, and inheriting them works.
Understand minerals →Ways to Invest, Compared
Stocks, ETFs, royalty trusts, funds, and direct deals side by side — liquidity, risk, tax treatment, and minimums.
Compare options →The tax treatment is unlike any other asset class
Congress wrote drilling incentives directly into the tax code. Used correctly — and they are frequently pitched incorrectly — they can change the after-tax math of a deal.
Know the rock before you know the deal
Every pitch you'll ever hear sits in a basin whose geology, well economics, and tax regime are knowable in advance. We mapped the seven majors — Permian, Eagle Ford, Williston, Appalachian, Haynesville, Anadarko, and DJ — with the producing intervals, breakevens, and the USGS studies behind them.
Two free tools, no email required
Royalty Value Calculator
Estimate what a royalty or mineral interest is worth from monthly checks, decline rate, and discount rate — and sanity-check any offer you've received.
Open the calculator →Roth Conversion Calculator ↗
Our companion site, The Nest Planner, shows how oil & gas IDC deductions can offset the tax on a Roth conversion — the strategy the two sites share.
Visit The Nest Planner →Direct oil & gas is a risk asset. Treat it like one.
Dry holes happen. Operators fail. Commodity prices halve. Most private deals are illiquid for years and some are structured to favor the sponsor. The tax benefits are real, but they never turn a bad well into a good investment. Every guide on this site states the risks before the returns — start with the investing guide's red-flags checklist.