Viper Sets 2026 Oil Guidance at 67,250–67,750 bo/d

The Tip Desk · November 3, 2026 · 4 min read

Average daily oil production reached 69,076 barrels a day, and the company set full-year 2026 guidance at 67,250–67,750 bo/d.

Viper Energy, Inc. (VNOM), a Diamondback Energy subsidiary that owns mineral and royalty interests in the Permian Basin, reported average daily oil production of 69,076 barrels a day (141,152 boe/d) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, up from 65,077 bo/d (134,363 boe/d) in the second quarter.

The sequential step followed a near-flat move from the first quarter’s 65,000 bo/d (130,711 boe/d). Chief Executive Officer Kaes Van’t Hof said the increase reflected recent acquisitions and continued development by Diamondback and third-party operators.

Total operating income was $661 million, versus $418 million a year earlier, with royalty income of $656 million and oil income of $557 million. Consolidated net income including non-controlling interest was $300 million, compared with a $197 million loss a year earlier. Net income attributable to Viper was $140 million, or $0.72 a share.

Adjusted EBITDA was $596 million, a 90% margin. Free cash flow was $520 million and operating cash flow was $447 million.

Unhedged realized oil averaged $87.65 a barrel, down from $98.28 a barrel in the second quarter. Combined unhedged realized price was $50.52 a boe. Cash operating expense was $4.08 a boe and depreciation, depletion and amortization was $15.86 a boe.

Six hundred eighty-nine gross (19.0 net) horizontal wells were turned to production. Diamondback operated 123 of those wells at a 9.4% average royalty interest; 566 third-party wells carried a 1.3% average interest. Lease bonus income was $4 million from 21 leases.

On July 1 the company completed the Riverbend Acquisition. On September 1 it closed the 2026 Drop Down of about 1,000 net royalty acres from Diamondback in exchange for about 3.8 million OpCo units and matching Class B shares. In September it also completed the McElroy Ranch Acquisition for about $529 million, including $49 million of deferred consideration through June 2029, adding about 7,359 net royalty acres that are 96% undeveloped with an expected 40.9 net inventory locations and forecasted peak production of about 5,000 bo/d over the next decade.

On September 14 Viper agreed to acquire Buckhorn Minerals interests for $280 million cash plus about 1.8 million Class A shares, expected to close in the fourth quarter. The asset is 61% undeveloped, has 1,552 net royalty acres with about 80% overlap with existing Viper acreage, and is expected to contribute about 1,500 bo/d of average daily oil over the next 12 months. The company said it expects pro forma year-end 2026 net debt of about $2.4 billion, or about 1.0 times last-twelve-months Adjusted EBITDA.

Total debt was $2.4 billion as of September 30, versus $1.62 billion as of March 31. Cash was $10 million. Long-term debt included $500 million of 4.900% notes due 2030, $1.1 billion of 5.700% notes due 2035 and $810 million of revolver borrowings, leaving about $1.2 billion of revolver availability.

The board declared a third-quarter base cash dividend of $0.50 a Class A share, the first quarter under the return-of-capital framework that replaced the prior 75% cash-available-for-distribution commitment. The second-quarter declaration had been a $0.38 base dividend plus a $0.29 variable dividend. Viper repurchased about 2.1 million Class A shares for about $90 million in the third quarter, at an average $43.01 a share.

As of September 30 the company held about 98,098 net royalty acres, with 104 active horizontal rigs, about 40% of the Permian Basin total, 1,965 gross (38.9 net) wells in active development and 1,404 gross (36.4 net) line-of-sight wells.

Inclusive of the pending Buckhorn deal, Viper initiated fourth-quarter 2026 average daily production guidance of 70,000 to 71,000 bo/d (141,500 to 143,500 boe/d) and set full-year 2026 guidance at 67,250 to 67,750 bo/d (137,000 to 138,000 boe/d), citing the Drop Down, McElroy Ranch and pending Buckhorn. Van’t Hof said full-year 2026 production guidance had a midpoint of 67,500 barrels of oil a day.