Spotlight: Invito Energy Partners and Its Non-Operated Drilling Funds

The McKinney, Texas sponsor raised its one-time management fee and widened the investor revenue split between its 2023 and 2025 drilling programs.

September 16, 2026

Invito Energy Partners sponsors private oil and gas partnerships that buy non-operated working interests, funding wells that larger companies drill and operate rather than running rigs itself. Founded in 2019 and based in McKinney, Texas, it is led by co-founders Steve Blackwell, chief executive and managing partner, and Jared Christianson, president and managing partner. Offerings are made to accredited investors under Regulation D, and an investor holds units in a partnership that in turn holds the working interest in the wells.

The firm’s first publicized vehicle was the Tax-Advantaged Energy Fund, a $20 million program concentrated in the Permian Basin across New Mexico and Texas. For Invito DrillCo 2025 LP, announced August 22, 2025, Invito said it sources wellbores in the Permian, Anadarko, Williston, DJ, Uinta and Powder River basins, and named Continental Resources, Marathon Petroleum, Oxy, EOG and Ovintiv among the operators it partners with.

What changed between the 2023 and 2025 funds

Invito DrillCo 2023 LP went live March 21, 2023 with a December 31 expiration, offered $25 million in units at $50,000 apiece against a $25,000 minimum, and carried a one-time management fee of 4 percent. Revenue was split 87 percent to investors and 13 percent to Invito until investors recovered their capital, then 75/25 after that.

DrillCo 2025 LP moved most of those terms. The offering was capped at $30 million with a $50,000 minimum and a December 31, 2025 close, the one-time management fee rose to 10 percent, and internal commissions were eliminated. Units split into two classes tied to an early-allocation incentive: Class A, limited to 75 units across the first $15 million raised, returned 96 percent of revenue to investors until capital was returned, and Class B, available afterward, returned 92 percent. Both classes revert to the same 75/25 split once investors are made whole. According to the firm, its share of revenue increases only after investors have received 100 percent of their initial investment.

Duration, distributions and tax posture

Invito tells investors to treat the units as illiquid, with no early redemption provisions and limits on transfer. It says some wells can produce for 25 to 30 years, but that after year five it anticipates considering a sale of the remaining cash flow followed by a final distribution, and that it believes ten years is the maximum duration of an investment. Distributions are quarterly and K-1s are issued by March 15. Investments through an LLC, trust or self-directed IRA are accepted, with the firm noting that a structure limiting liability can affect an investor’s ability to offset ordinary income.

For DrillCo 2025 the firm targeted an upfront intangible drilling cost deduction of 70 to 80 percent of the investment. Its published return targets for that fund — a 30 percent IRR, 15 to 20 percent annualized, and 1.75x to 2.0x over fund life — were underwritten at a flat $65 per barrel and labeled by the firm as illustrative and not guaranteed.

Current programs and advisor access

Two 2026 vehicles run in parallel. Invito Opportunity Fund 2026 LP targets non-operated interests in what its deal room describes as Tier 1 locations across the Permian, Anadarko, Williston, Powder River and Uinta basins, aimed at wells scheduled to be drilled during 2026 so that the IDC deduction and bonus depreciation land in that tax year. Invito DrillCo 2026 LP sits alongside it.

The 2025 predecessor sets the floor on offering size. Invito Opportunity Fund 2025 LP reported in an amended Form D filed June 4, 2025 a $5 million offering with $1.5 million sold to nine investors, a $25,000 minimum, and no sales commissions or finders fees paid, with Pinnacle Capital Securities listed as the recipient of sales compensation. Alongside the offering documents, Invito commissioned a third-party due diligence report from Buttonwood and populates its deal room with financial projections and background checks on both principals.