Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL), are you seeing a resilient Delaware Basin operator or a company navigating a critical inflection point?

The firm generated $43.5 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2025, driven by an average daily production of 12,293 barrels of oil equivalent per day, yet it's simultaneously dealing with a major Acid Gas Injection facility outage and actively pursuing merger, acquisition, and divestiture opportunities. This mix of operational success-like realizing more than $1.1 million in savings per well in West Quito Draw-and strategic uncertainty is exactly why its history, ownership, and business model matter right now.

Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) History

You can't talk about Battalion Oil Corporation without first acknowledging its complex lineage, which is common in the volatile Exploration and Production (E&P) sector. The company's story is one of aggressive growth, financial distress, and strategic rebirth, defined by a laser-focus on the Delaware Basin. The current entity is a direct result of multiple restructurings, a hard reset that cleared significant debt to create a pure-play operation.

If you want to understand the company's current financial health, its history is the essential context. You need to see how they got to their current debt and liquidity position, which, as of September 30, 2025, stood at $213.8 million in term loan debt against $50.5 million in cash. That's the real-world impact of their past decisions.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company's ultimate roots trace back to 1987, though the current corporate identity, Battalion Oil Corporation, was officially established following a major restructuring in October 2019, and the name change was completed in January 2020.

Original location

The operational headquarters have consistently been in Houston, Texas, the hub of the US energy industry.

Founding team members

The predecessor company, Halcón Resources Corporation, was initially led by Floyd C. Wilson. Following the restructuring that formed Battalion Oil, the leadership transitioned. As of November 2025, key executive leadership includes Matthew B. Steele, serving as Principal Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and Director.

Initial capital/funding

The company emerged from its 2019 Chapter 11 restructuring with a new capital structure, converting substantial debt to equity. This process effectively eliminated approximately $785 million in debt, providing the initial financial footing for the newly named Battalion Oil Corporation.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The trajectory of Battalion Oil Corporation is defintely marked by two fundamental shifts: the move to a pure-play strategy and the constant battle with leverage. The company learned the hard way that diversification across multiple basins, while spreading risk, also diluted focus and capital.

The most transformative decision was the 2019 restructuring, which converted massive debt into equity. This move created the Battalion Oil we know today, an entity solely focused on the high-potential, liquids-rich Delaware Basin in the Permian. This focus is what drives their recent operational successes, like completing their 2025 six-well plan under budget.

• The Delaware Basin Pivot: Divesting non-core assets to concentrate solely on the Delaware Basin was a decisive move, simplifying the operational structure and concentrating capital expenditure (capex) for better returns.
• The 2025 Operational Squeeze: The August 2025 cessation of the AGI facility was a major near-term risk. It forced the company to temporarily shutter wells and scramble for third-party processing, highlighting the fragility of relying on midstream partners.
• The Financial Lifeline: The November 2025 covenant relief, extending flexibility until mid-2027, is a critical moment. It acknowledges the company's financial tightness but provides runway for management to execute its strategy and explore strategic alternatives, including potential merger, acquisition, or divestiture opportunities.

For a deeper dive into how these historical shifts impact the balance sheet, you should read Breaking Down Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Ownership Structure

Battalion Oil Corporation's governance is heavily influenced by a concentrated institutional ownership base, a common structure for companies that have navigated significant financial restructuring.

This structure means a few large funds hold the majority of voting power, so strategic decisions, like the ongoing pursuit of merger, acquisition, and divestiture opportunities, are defintely driven by institutional interests.

Battalion Oil Corporation's Current Status

As of November 2025, Battalion Oil Corporation is a publicly traded company, listed on the NYSE American under the ticker BATL.

Despite a prior Chapter 11 filing and market speculation, the company continues to operate as an independent exploration and production (E&P) player focused on the Delaware Basin. The company reported its third quarter 2025 results in November 2025, showing $43.5 million in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA of $18.9 million for the quarter. The total number of shares issued and outstanding stands at approximately 16.46 million.

Battalion Oil Corporation's Ownership Breakdown

The company's ownership is highly concentrated in institutional hands, reflecting the influence of major creditors and investors following financial events. This heavy institutional control is the primary factor driving the company's capital allocation and long-term strategy. You can review the full strategic priorities in the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL).

Battalion Oil Corporation's Leadership

The leadership team, which has an average management tenure of around 2.7 years, is composed of seasoned energy executives with deep experience in E&P operations and capital markets.

The Board is chaired by a representative of the largest institutional owner, which shows you exactly where the ultimate decision-making power resides.

• Jonathan Barrett: Chairman of the Board. Mr. Barrett is a key figure from Luminus, the company's largest shareholder, and has served since May 2020.
• Matthew (Matt) Steele: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Principal Financial Officer. Appointed in April 2023, he also serves as a Director.
• Daniel P. Rohling: Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). He oversees the E&P operations, having joined Battalion Oil Corporation in July 2019.
• Walter Mayer: Senior Vice President, General Counsel. Mr. Mayer provides legal oversight and has been with the company since March 2013.

Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Mission and Values

Battalion Oil Corporation's core purpose centers on the disciplined, technology-driven extraction of high-value energy assets in the Delaware Basin, aiming for operational efficiency and maximizing shareholder value through strategic asset development.

Given Company's Core Purpose

The company's operational existence, especially post-restructuring and leading up to its announced acquisition by Fury Resources, Inc., has been a laser focus on being a pure-play exploration and production (E&P) company in the Delaware Basin. This means its cultural DNA is built around technical precision, cost control, and strategic asset management.

The core purpose is to efficiently acquire, develop, and produce onshore oil and natural gas properties in the United States. This isn't just a vague goal; it's a mandate to deliver results, even when facing market headwinds, like the net loss of $15.0 million reported in the third quarter of 2025. They are continuously working to lower capital expenditure (capex) per well, a clear operational value, as seen when they drilled wells under Authorization for Expenditure (AFE) budget estimates by approximately $1.0 million per well in Q2 2025.

• Execute a proven strategy applied in prior, successful ventures.
• Use advanced technology to make informed, effective business decisions.
• Maintain operational focus exclusively on liquids-rich assets in the Delaware Basin.

Here's the quick math: in Q3 2025, their average daily net production was 12,293 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), with 53% of that being oil. That volume is the direct result of their core purpose in action.

For a deeper dive into their performance metrics, check out Breaking Down Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Official mission statement

Battalion Oil Corporation has not published a formal, explicit mission statement, but its actions define its mandate. The de facto mission is to maximize the value of its Delaware Basin assets for its shareholders, focusing on cost-effective, high-return drilling and production.

To be fair, in the volatile E&P space, the mission is often simply survival and growth, which requires defintely sharp execution.

• Acquire and develop high-quality, liquids-rich hydrocarbon assets.
• Maintain capital discipline to outperform cost estimates.
• Generate positive cash flow and enhance shareholder returns.

Vision statement

While there is no formal vision statement, the company's strategic moves-like actively exploring merger, acquisition, and divestiture (MA&D) opportunities in late 2025-point to a vision of strategic flexibility and ultimate value realization for its concentrated institutional ownership base. The vision is less about long-term operational expansion and more about achieving the optimal strategic outcome for the asset portfolio.

• Be the most efficient operator in their core Delaware Basin fields.
• Realize the full intrinsic value of the asset base through strategic transactions.
• Sustain operational excellence to support a favorable strategic outcome.

Given Company slogan/tagline

Battalion Oil Corporation does not publicly use a formal slogan or tagline. Given its operational focus on a specific, resource-rich area and its emphasis on execution, a working tagline that captures its essence would be: Delaware Basin Focused. Execution Driven.

Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) How It Works

Battalion Oil Corporation is an independent energy company that makes money by acquiring, exploring, and developing liquids-rich oil and natural gas properties in the United States, specifically focusing on the prolific Delaware Basin in West Texas and New Mexico. The company's core process is extracting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from underground reservoirs and selling these commodities into the US energy market.

Battalion Oil Corporation's Product/Service Portfolio

Battalion Oil Corporation's Operational Framework

You need to see the mechanics of how the company gets its product out of the ground and to market. Battalion Oil's operations are laser-focused on its acreage position within the Delaware Basin, which is a premier US shale play. This is where the value is created, so the process must be efficient.

• Acquisition and Exploration: Identify and secure prospective acreage, primarily through leasing, that holds significant reserves of oil and natural gas.
• Drilling and Completion: Execute a focused drilling program, using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to access and stimulate production from the tight rock formations. In West Quito Draw, for instance, they concluded drilling and completion operations on two wells in 2025.
• Production and Processing: Extract the oil, gas, and NGLs from the wellhead. This step includes gas processing, which is a current challenge; the company's Acid Gas Injection (AGI) facility ceased operations in August 2025.
• Third-Party Mitigation: Following the AGI outage, Battalion Oil had to temporarily shut in approximately 1,600 barrels of oil per day at Monument Draw, but they quickly redirected gas production to third-party processing options nearby. This is a critical, near-term operational pivot.
• Sales and Revenue: Transport the separated and treated commodities via pipelines and trucks to market hubs, realizing total operating revenue of $43.5 million in the third quarter of 2025.

Battalion Oil Corporation's Strategic Advantages

The company's market success hinges on a few key factors, especially given its current financial situation. Honesty, these advantages are about operational discipline and financial maneuvering right now, not just scale.

• Premier Asset Quality: Concentrated, liquids-rich position in the core of the Delaware Basin, which gives them access to higher-value crude oil and NGL production. This asset base is defintely attractive for potential partners or buyers.
• Cost Control and Efficiency: Proving they can manage capital expenditures (CapEx) effectively. For example, they achieved over $1.1 million in savings per well in West Quito Draw compared to the authorized budget (AFE). That kind of precision helps the bottom line, even with lower realized commodity prices.
• Financial Flexibility and Hedging: They are actively managing their balance sheet risk. The company secured an amendment to its credit facility on November 12, 2025, which gives them covenant relief through June 30, 2027. Plus, realized hedge gains totaled approximately $4.1 million in Q3 2025, which helped offset the drop in realized prices.
• Strategic Optionality: Battalion Oil is openly pursuing potential merger, acquisition, and divestiture (MA&D) opportunities. This signals a willingness to maximize stakeholder value by exploring a sale or a significant partnership, which is a smart move for a company with a high debt load of $213.8 million as of September 30, 2025. You can find more on this in Breaking Down Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) How It Makes Money

Battalion Oil Corporation generates revenue primarily by extracting and selling crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from its acreage in the liquids-rich Delaware Basin of West Texas. Its financial engine is overwhelmingly driven by the price and volume of crude oil, which accounts for the vast majority of its top-line sales.

Battalion Oil Corporation's Revenue Breakdown

You can see the company's revenue mix is heavily skewed toward crude oil, which is typical for a Delaware Basin operator focused on liquids-rich assets. Here's the breakdown based on the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025) realized sales, which provides the freshest look at the business model.

The total operating revenue for Q3 2025 was $43.5 million. While production volume actually increased slightly to 12,293 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), the overall revenue trend is decreasing because of a $2.24 per Boe decline in average realized prices compared to Q3 2024. That's the reality of a price-taker in the commodity market.

Business Economics

The core of Battalion Oil Corporation's business is simple: extract hydrocarbons from the Permian Basin's Delaware sub-basin at a cost lower than the market price. The complexity is in managing the volatile market and the high fixed costs of drilling.

• Pricing and Hedging: The company uses derivatives (hedges) to lock in future sales prices, which stabilizes cash flow but limits upside during price spikes. For instance, Q3 2025 saw realized hedge gains of approximately $4.1 million, which helped offset the lower realized market prices.
• Operational Cost Control: Management is focused on lowering the cost of bringing new wells online. They successfully completed their 2025 six-well plan, achieving savings of over $1.1 million per well compared to the Authority for Expenditure (AFE) estimates. That's smart capital allocation.
• Per-Unit Expenses: Lease operating and workover expenses (LOE) were $11.69 per Boe in Q3 2025. Gathering and other expenses dropped to $9.02 per Boe in the same quarter, a good sign of efficiency, but the higher LOE reflects increased water production and disposal costs from newer wells.
• Near-Term Risk: A major operational disruption occurred when the Acid Gas Injection (AGI) facility ceased operations in August 2025, forcing the company to temporarily shut in about 1,600 barrels of oil per day at Monument Draw until third-party processing was secured. This immediately impacts cash flow, so you have to watch for how long that production remains offline.

For a deeper dive into how these operational factors impact the balance sheet, you should read Breaking Down Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Battalion Oil Corporation's Financial Performance

Looking at the first nine months of 2025 (Q1 through Q3), the financials show a company that is generating strong operating cash flow but still struggling with GAAP profitability due to non-cash charges and debt service.

• Total Revenue (9M 2025): The cumulative operating revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, was approximately $133.8 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA (9M 2025): The company generated an Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $52.1 million for the first nine months of 2025, which is the key metric for judging the cash-generating ability of the underlying assets.
• Net Loss (9M 2025): Despite the positive Adjusted EBITDA, the cumulative net loss for the same nine-month period was approximately $24.3 million, underscoring the pressure from non-cash items like depletion and high interest expense.
• Liquidity and Debt: As of September 30, 2025, the company had total liquidity of $50.5 million, against term loan indebtedness of $213.8 million. This debt load is significant, so the covenant relief secured in November 2025 through June 30, 2027, is defintely a necessary lifeline.

Here's the quick math: the business is generating cash at the operating level, but it is not enough to cover the full cost structure, especially the debt, which is why the net income is negative. Your focus needs to be on the sustainability of that $52.1 million in Adjusted EBITDA.

Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL) Market Position & Future Outlook

Battalion Oil Corporation is positioned as a high-risk, micro-cap energy producer that is currently focused on operational stabilization and strategic financial restructuring. The company's future trajectory hinges on its ability to resolve significant operational challenges and navigate a precarious balance sheet, despite reporting a strong increase in adjusted operational cash flow.

The company's core strategy is to maximize value from its Permian Basin assets, but its near-term outlook is fundamentally tied to its compliance with NYSE American listing standards and its pursuit of a strategic transaction, as detailed in its Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Battalion Oil Corporation (BATL).

Competitive Landscape

Battalion Oil Corporation operates in the highly fragmented upstream segment of the US energy market, specifically in the Permian Basin. Relative to major players like EOG Resources (market cap over $57 billion), Battalion's market share is negligible, but within the small-cap exploration and production (E&P) peer group, it holds a small but distinct position.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company faces a divergence in its performance: improved operational efficiency is offset by significant structural financial and regulatory risks. This creates a high-stakes scenario for investors and management.

Industry Position

Battalion Oil Corporation is a micro-cap E&P company with a market capitalization of approximately $17.94 million as of November 2025, placing it at the very small end of the public energy sector. Its position is best described as a speculative investment, heavily dependent on a successful financial restructuring. The company has a net loss of $15.0 million for Q3 2025, but its operational performance, before non-cash items, is improving, which is a defintely a mixed signal.

• The company secured covenant relief on its credit facility until June 30, 2027, buying time to execute its turnaround plan.
• Institutional investors own a high percentage (86.0%) of the shares, suggesting a belief in a potential strategic event or turnaround. [cite: 11 (from first search)]
• Its primary challenge is converting its operational improvements-like the Q3 2025 adjusted EBITDA gain-into sustainable shareholder equity to resolve its NYSE noncompliance and debt burden.