I’ve had relatives who made their career out of buying mineral rights in various locations, leasing those as royalty or working interests, using the profits to buy more mineral rights, etc. Generally, this hasn’t been done (from their side) via any incorporated business, rather they just held the rights as an individual or in something like a sole-proprietor LLC.
I never got a clear, succinct answer regarding how to answer the question, “What is this person’s occupation?” The thing I’ve heard most often is, “We’re in the oil and gas business,” but I’m looking for something more specific.
So, my question: what is a good job title for such a person? Are they an “Independent Petroleum Producer [/Explorer!?]” (I’m thinking IPAA here) due to their role in the process even though they are not part of a production company in the technical hands-on sense?
This type of investor can call themselves anything they want to as they may want to keep the title generic. A commonly used title is Minerals Manager. Technically, they are not a Producer or Explorer since they are not doing the drilling and production as an operator . (That is just my opinion as an Exploration/Production geologist.) The National Association of Royalty Owners has a training program for a certificate for both Registered or Certified Minerals Managers. Many mineral investors, bank trust officers, landmen, or interested family members have taken it.
I would say they are an Oil and Gas Investor or a Mineral and Royalty Investor, or put it all together and call them an Oil and Gas, Mineral and Royalty Investor. That has a ring to it! When I think of a Mineral Manager I think of an individual who works for someone else (a company, fund, family office, etc.). However, I guess Mineral Manager would work too.
BTW why wouldn’t one just register an LLC and invest through that? assuming the investments would be royalty interests and avoiding working interests or other liabilities (to avoid one liability sucking you down - put that in a single purpose LLC), you can then sell your portfolio while minimizing admin hassles of re-titling the property, you could gift ownership to family members, take on investors, etc. Just seems simple. But I’ll admit that I’ve worked through LLC’s in real estate for a long time, so I’m comfortable in that space.