We sat down with the CEO of EON Resources Inc. (NYSE American: EONR) for a conversation that retail investors have been waiting for. EON is a small Permian Basin oil and gas company that has been quietly making big moves — cleaning up its balance sheet, locking in oil prices through 2027, and launching what could be one of the most significant horizontal drilling programs in its history. Here is what the CEO told us.
Who Is EON Resources and Why Are People Talking About It?
EON Resources is an independent upstream energy company with 20,000 leasehold acres in the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico. They operate over 750 producing and injection wells across two fields and are currently producing more than 1,000 barrels of oil per day.
If you have not heard of them before, that is kind of the point. This is not a company with a marketing budget and a PR team blasting their name everywhere. They are a small operator doing the work, and the CEO made that very clear in our conversation.
The company went public on the NYSE American under the ticker EONR, and their public warrants trade under EONRWS. They have two fields — the Grayburg-Jackson Field in Eddy County, New Mexico, which they acquired in November 2023, and the South Justis Field in Lea County, New Mexico, which they picked up in June 2025 for one million shares of stock with zero cash and zero debt involved in the deal.
That second acquisition alone tells you a lot about how this management team thinks. They found a field with 207 million barrels of original oil in place, over 5,000 acres, and more than 200 wells — and they got it done without touching the bank account.
The Permian Basin Is the Prize, and EON Has 20,000 Acres of It
When we asked the CEO why the Permian Basin matters, the answer was straightforward. It is the most productive and lowest-cost oil basin in the United States. Every major oil company in the world has a presence there. The infrastructure, the service industry, the talent — it is all there.
EON’s approach is different from the big shale players you hear about on the news. While most attention goes to unconventional shale drilling, EON focuses on conventional waterflood production and targeted horizontal drilling in shallow formations. The Grayburg-Jackson Field sits in formations that run from just 1,500 feet to 4,000 feet deep. That keeps drilling costs manageable and production profiles more predictable.
The method is called waterflooding — injecting water into the reservoir to push remaining oil toward the producing wells. It is a proven secondary recovery technique that extends the life of a field and keeps lifting costs low. The CEO described it as squeezing more value out of assets that still have decades of production life ahead of them.
The Virtus Deal: A 92-Well Horizontal Drilling Program That Could Change Everything
The headline news coming out of our conversation was the 2026 drilling program, which is built on top of a farmout agreement EON signed with Virtus Energy Partners in September 2025.
Here is how the CEO explained it. EON has identified up to 92 prospective horizontal well locations in the San Andres formation within the Grayburg-Jackson Field. Rather than trying to drill those wells themselves and taking on all the capital risk, they partnered with Virtus — a Frisco, Texas-based operator that has drilled more than 200 horizontal San Andres wells in the exact same geology in the Permian Basin.
Virtus pays to drill and operate the wells. They own 65 percent of the working interest. EON retains 35 percent without putting up the drilling capital. And on the first three wells — the ones being drilled right now in 2026 — EON pays nothing at all. The first three wells are entirely Virtus’s cost. EON participates in the upside for free.
The CEO called the timing ideal. The vertical well recompletions happening in Q2 2026 are giving the team data on the best completion methods before the more expensive horizontal wells are drilled. You do not spend $3.5 million per well without knowing what you are doing first. That is the kind of disciplined thinking retail investors do not always see from small-cap operators.
The first three horizontal wells are expected to be in service by the end of July 2026, with around ten wells completed by year-end. The full 92-well program is expected to play out over approximately five years, at a pace of 10 to 20 new wells per year.
Locking In Oil Prices Through 2027: The Hedging Story
One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was about oil price hedging. EON has spent the past several months methodically locking in oil prices for their production through the end of 2027 — a full 24-month hedging position.
The next 15 months of production are approximately 75 percent hedged. The final nine months of 2027 are more than 50 percent hedged. A portion of the 2026 hedges are locked above $70 per barrel.
The CFO Mitchell Trotter explained the philosophy publicly when the March 11 hedge expansion was announced: these hedges protect the cash requirements for operating expenses and support the company’s financial foundation while production scales up under the horizontal drilling program.
The CEO framed it for us even more directly. When you are building toward the most important production growth in your company’s history, you do not want oil price volatility to derail the plan. Getting hedged gives you the certainty to execute.
The hedges are a combination of no-cost swaps, which lock in a fixed price, and no-cost collars, which set a price floor for protection while still allowing the company to participate in some upside if oil moves higher. EON is not capping all of its upside — they structured the program with participation in mind.
The $45.5 Million Deal That Transformed the Balance Sheet
Before EON could do any of this, they needed to fix their financial structure. And in September 2025, they did exactly that.
The company closed a $45.5 million funding deal that simultaneously retired $19.3 million in senior debt, settled a $20.5 million obligation with the seller of the Grayburg-Jackson Field, and funded the farmout agreement with Virtus. It was structured through a combination of a volumetric funding instrument with a private family office and the Virtus farmout itself.
The result: EON went from carrying significant debt to having a debt-to-equity ratio of essentially zero. The CEO told us the cash flow improvement from eliminating those monthly debt payments was in the range of $400,000 to $600,000 per month. That is money that now stays in the business.
The company also posted record net income of $5.6 million in Q3 2025 — the quarter immediately following that deal. That is not a coincidence. A clean balance sheet changes how a business operates.
What the Numbers Look Like Right Now
EON reported revenue of approximately $20 million over the most recent trailing period, with EBIT margins above 79 percent and EBITDA margins approaching 97 percent. Those are extraordinary margins for any company, let alone a small-cap energy operator.
The gross margin is effectively 100 percent on their waterflood production because the primary lifting costs — water injection infrastructure — are already in place. Once the system is running, the incremental cost per barrel is very low.
The CEO projected that the 5 vertical well recompletions plus the first 3 horizontal wells could add 500 net barrels of oil per day to production. At $90 oil, that is approximately $1.3 million per month in additional revenue. At today’s hedged prices, the math still works.
South Justis: The Second Field Nobody Is Talking About Yet
When we asked the CEO about South Justis, his answer was measured but clear: this is an asset that is early in its development and has significant upside that has not been priced in by the market.
The field was first developed in the 1960s and originally produced 6,000 barrels of oil per day. The original-oil-in-place is approximately 207 million barrels. Over time, the field changed hands, wells went idle due to mechanical failures, and production dropped dramatically. EON acquired it when the seller had already begun reactivating wells with good results.
EON’s plan is the same playbook they used at Grayburg-Jackson: return idle wells to production systematically using workover rigs, then find a drilling partner to develop the horizontal drilling upside — the same way Virtus came in for GJF.
The CEO indicated EON is actively looking for a drilling partner for South Justis. When that announcement comes, it will likely be a significant catalyst for the stock.
Management Is Buying, Not Selling
One of the details we always look for is what management is doing with their own money. At EON, the answer is they are buying.
Management and directors purchased more than 1.5 million shares of EONR on the open market during 2025. Their combined ownership is now above 5 million shares. This is not stock granted as compensation — these are open market purchases, meaning they are buying the same shares anyone else can buy, at market prices.
The CEO made no apologies for this. When you believe in what you are building, you put your money where your mouth is.
The company also added a new independent director in January 2026 — Kyle Bulpitt, a petroleum engineer with experience at ConocoPhillips and in asset-backed securitization financing. That kind of board-level addition signals the company is thinking about the next phase of growth, not just the current one.
The Macro Environment Is Working in EON’s Favor
We talked about the broader economic and energy environment and what it means for a small Permian operator.
The CEO was direct. Domestic energy production is a priority right now. The current policy environment favors producers who are drilling on American soil and adding American barrels. EON operates entirely on federal and state leases in New Mexico, and the regulatory environment under the current administration has been constructive for permitting and operations.
Beyond policy, the Permian Basin itself continues to attract capital and expertise. Being a conventional waterflood operator in the most prolific basin in America is not a liability — it is a structural advantage. The service infrastructure, the pipeline access, the technical talent pool — all of it is there and available.
Oil price volatility remains a real factor, and the CEO acknowledged it. That is precisely why the hedging program exists. You build certainty where you can, and you position yourself to participate in upside where the hedges allow room.
What We Are Watching Going Forward
Coming out of this interview, the Marathon Money community knows the milestones to track.
The Q2 2026 recompletion results from the 5 vertical San Andres wells will be the first signal of how the formation performs. Those results guide the completion methods for the horizontal wells. If those wells produce at or above expectations, it is a strong vote of confidence for the entire horizontal program.
The horizontal well results expected in Q3 2026 are the main event. When the first three wells from Virtus come online and the production numbers are reported, that will be the moment investors find out whether the thesis holds. The CEO was confident in the data they have seen from Virtus’s comparable wells in the same geology.
The Q4 2025 full-year earnings report expected April 28, 2026, will give the market a complete picture of the financial position heading into the most important six months in EON’s history.
And the South Justis drilling partner announcement — whenever it comes — is an event that would dramatically expand the story beyond what is already priced in.
Our Takeaway
EON Resources is a small company making disciplined moves. They acquired two Permian Basin fields without overextending financially. They structured a farmout agreement that gives them 35 percent participation in a 92-well horizontal program without bearing the full drilling cost. They hedged their oil prices through 2027 before embarking on a major production growth phase. And they did all of this while posting record earnings and buying shares in the open market.
This is not a story about hype. This is a story about execution. The second half of 2026 will tell us whether the execution matches the plan.
We will be watching, and we will keep the Marathon Money community updated every step of the way.
EON Resources Inc. compensated Marathon Money for this CEO interview. This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decision. NYSE American: EONR.
Watch the full CEO interview on YouTube. Subscribe to Marathon Money on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. Join the community at MarathonMoneyShow.com.
Join Now Log In
Listen to the Free Version of Marathon Money
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Discover more from Marathon Money +
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.