PEDEVCO Corp. (PED): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) just closed a transformative merger in early November 2025, but does this deal defintely position them as the premier Rockies-focused oil and gas operator they claim to be? Looking at the Q3 2025 financials, the company reported a net loss of $325 thousand on revenues of $7.0 million, which tells us the underlying business faced commodity price pressure, but that financial snapshot doesn't capture the post-merger reality. You need to understand how the new capital structure, including the expanded $120 million credit facility, fundamentally changes the development pace on their approximately 328,000 net acres in the D-J and Powder River Basins, so let's dig into the new ownership structure-where the merger resulted in approximately 53% of the combined entity being held by the former portfolio companies-and how PEDEVCO Corp. actually makes money now.

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) History

You're looking at an energy company that's essentially been rebuilt twice, so understanding its history means focusing on the two major pivots: the 2018 restructuring and the late-2025 merger. The current, financially disciplined entity you see today is a product of those transformative decisions, not its initial 2007 incorporation. The core strategy is simple: acquire legacy fields and apply modern drilling techniques to unlock new value.

Honestly, the real story starts in 2018 when the company was nearly bankrupt, not in 2007. That's when the current management team took control and shifted the focus entirely to the Permian and D-J Basins.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Founding Timeline

Year established

The company was originally incorporated in Delaware on December 27, 2007, though it began operating as an oil and gas company around 2010.

Original location

The initial headquarters were located in Denver, Colorado, but the company's current operational and corporate base is in Houston, Texas.

Founding team members

The original founding details are sparse, but the current, successful iteration was driven by a new team. Key figures involved in the 2018 restructuring and subsequent growth include Dr. Simon Kukes, who became a key investor, and J. Douglas Schick, who was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2018.

Initial capital/funding

Specific initial capital is not public, but the current trajectory began with a critical strategic investment of $7.7 million from SK Energy LLC, an entity owned by Dr. Simon Kukes, on June 26, 2018, which was part of converting approximately $75 million in distressed debt into equity.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Evolution Milestones

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory is defined by two moments where a near-death experience led to a radical, successful pivot. The first was a financial rescue; the second was a scale-up play. You can read more about the company's strategic direction in our Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of PEDEVCO Corp. (PED).

• 2018 Debt-to-Equity Conversion: Facing a crippling debt load of about $75 million, the new management team executed a clean, decisive restructuring. They essentially bought the debt for a fraction of the cost-roughly $0.10 on the dollar-and converted it into equity, immediately eliminating debt and allowing a fresh, conservative capital structure to emerge.
• The 2025 Merger: This is the most recent and largest shift. The merger, completed on October 31, 2025, with portfolio companies of Juniper Capital Advisors, L.P., was a pure growth play. Before the merger, the company was financially sound, reporting $13.7 million in cash and zero debt as of September 30, 2025. The transaction included a PIPE investment of over $18.5 million from the Juniper affiliate J PED, LLC.
• Scaling Production: The immediate impact of the 2025 merger is the projected increase in average daily production to over 6,500 BOEPD. Here's the quick math: that's a more than four-fold jump from the Q3 2025 average of 1,471 BOEPD, fundamentally changing the company's scale and cash flow potential. The long-term goal is to reach 10,000-plus BOEPD through organic growth and strategic consolidation.

The company's ability to maintain a strong balance sheet with zero debt pre-merger, despite a Q3 2025 net loss of $325 thousand on $7.0 million in revenue, shows a defintely conservative approach to capital management, which is crucial for integrating the new, larger asset base.

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Ownership Structure

The ownership structure of PEDEVCO Corp. is dominated by a single, powerful private equity firm following a major merger in late 2025, shifting control and strategic direction to a new majority stakeholder.

Juniper Capital Advisors, L.P. and its affiliates now hold the controlling interest, which is the key factor in the company's governance and future strategy, particularly its focus on the Rockies region.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Current Status

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) is a publicly-traded energy company, listed on the NYSE American, that completed a transformative merger with certain portfolio companies controlled by Juniper Capital Advisors, L.P. on November 3, 2025.

This transaction fundamentally repositioned the company as a premier oil and gas operator focused on the Northern DJ and Powder River Basins, increasing its expected total common shares outstanding to approximately 266 million. The combined entity is expected to have approximately $87 million in total debt and about $10 million in cash, pro forma for the closing. For a deeper dive into the company's financial standing, you can read Breaking Down PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Ownership Breakdown

The merger with Juniper Capital was a major change, establishing a clear controlling shareholder. Upon the conversion of the Series A Convertible Preferred Shares issued in the transaction, Juniper and its affiliates will hold the majority of the common stock, a critical detail for understanding corporate governance.

Here's the quick math: Juniper's 53% stake gives them effective control, so they drive the strategy. The rest of the market, including other institutional funds and retail investors, holds the remaining 47%. This is defintely a controlled company now.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Leadership

The merger brought significant changes to the executive team and the Board of Directors, integrating leadership from the acquired portfolio companies and Juniper Capital. This new team is tasked with executing the strategy of consolidation and growth in the Rockies.

• J. Douglas Schick: President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who remains in his role to lead the combined company.
• Reagan Tuck (R.T.) Dukes: Chief Operating Officer (COO), appointed effective October 31, 2025, bringing nearly 20 years of oil and gas experience.
• Robert "Bobby" J. Long: Chief Financial Officer (CFO), appointed effective October 31, 2025, with nearly 25 years of financial experience in the energy sector.
• Clark R. Moore: Executive Vice President and General Counsel.
• Jody Crook: Chief Commercial Officer.

The Board of Directors also saw new appointments in late October 2025, including Josh Schmidt (Partner and COO of Juniper Capital), Martyn Willsher, and Kristel Franklin, ensuring the new controlling shareholder has direct oversight of governance. This is how the new ownership translates to direct operational control.

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Mission and Values

PEDEVCO Corp.'s mission and values are fundamentally tied to a clear, actionable strategy: revitalize proven oil and gas fields using modern technology and achieve premier operator status in the Rocky Mountain region. This focus on efficiency and strategic growth drives every capital allocation decision, especially following their transformative 2025 merger.

Given Company's Core Purpose

You need to know what a company stands for beyond the quarterly earnings. For PEDEVCO Corp., their cultural DNA is defined by a pragmatic, technology-driven approach to an established industry, aiming to maximize returns from existing, long-life assets.

Official mission statement

The company's mission is synthesized from its core strategic focus: to be a premier, publicly-traded exploration and production (E&P) company focused on the acquisition and development of strategic, high-growth energy projects in the United States, primarily in the Rocky Mountain region. This mission translates into a clear operational directive:

• Developing Conventional Assets with Unconventional Technology.
• Targeting legacy conventional proven properties with long production history.
• Applying the latest modern drilling and completion techniques to revitalize older fields.

This approach is why their Q3 2025 revenue of $7.0 million was quickly overshadowed by the strategic move to instantly boost production to over 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) post-merger.

Vision statement

PEDEVCO Corp.'s vision is straightforward and ambitious, especially after their October 2025 merger with Juniper Capital's portfolio companies, which shifted their primary focus. The entire company is now aligned toward a single, powerful goal.

• Becoming the Premier Rockies Operator.
• Positioning the Company as Premier Publicly-Traded Rockies-Focused Oil & Gas Operator.

Here's the quick math: their Q3 2025 average production was 1,471 BOEPD; the post-merger production jump to over 6,500 BOEPD shows just how defintely serious they are about this vision. This is a case where the forward-looking vision is far more important than the last earnings report. Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of PEDEVCO Corp. (PED).

Given Company slogan/tagline

While an official, short-form slogan isn't always public, the company's investor-facing tagline perfectly captures their value proposition and technical strategy. It's a precise summary of their business model.

• The Premier Public Oil & Gas Company Focused on the Development of Conventional Assets Using Unconventional Technologies.

Their core values are the strategic pillars supporting this tagline, focusing on financial discipline and expansion:

• Driving Growth and Strategic Consolidation.
• Maintaining Strong Cash Generation with Extensive Potential Drilling Inventory.
• Driving Low-Cost Operating with a Conservative Capital Structure.

The $35 million in gross cash proceeds raised in the recent equity placement is a concrete action supporting the 'Conservative Capital Structure' value, funding their new growth phase.

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) How It Works

PEDEVCO Corp. operates by acquiring, developing, and producing onshore crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in strategic, high-growth US basins, primarily leveraging horizontal drilling and completion technologies on conventional assets. Following a transformative October 2025 merger, the company has pivoted to become a premier operator focused on the Rocky Mountain region, significantly boosting its production base to over 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD).

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Product/Service Portfolio

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Operational Framework

The company creates value through a disciplined, full-cycle exploration and production (E&P) model, focusing on low-risk development opportunities within proven US basins. Here's the quick math: they increase reserves and production volumes while controlling costs to maximize the margin per barrel of oil equivalent (Boe) sold. For the third quarter of 2025, their realized sales price was $51.46 per Boe.

• Asset Focus: Concentrate on the Permian Basin's San Andres Asset and the expansive D-J Basin/Rockies Asset, which is now the primary focus post-merger.
• Drilling Program: Execute a capital-efficient drilling program, participating in both operated and non-operated wells. For example, they participated in drilling eight 2.5 mile lateral non-operated wells in the D-J Basin, with production coming online in Q4 2025.
• Production Optimization: Employ reservoir management techniques and production optimization practices, such as the lift conversions performed in the Chaveroo Field in the Permian Basin in 2025 to reduce future operating costs.
• Integration: The immediate near-term focus is integrating the operations acquired in the October 2025 merger with Juniper Capital Advisors, L.P. to achieve economies of scale and realize the new production target of over 6,500 BOEPD.

If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises-just kidding, but integration speed defintely matters for realizing the merger's full potential. Breaking Down PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Strategic Advantages

PEDEVCO's market success hinges on a few clear, actionable advantages that set it apart from larger, more heavily leveraged peers in the energy sector.

• Rockies Focus & Scale: The October 2025 merger transformed the company into a leading pure-play public oil and gas company focused on the Rocky Mountain region, significantly increasing acreage and production to over 6,500 BOEPD.
• Financial Strength: Maintain a remarkably strong balance sheet for an E&P company, reporting zero debt and $13.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2025. This low-leverage position provides flexibility for organic growth and accretive mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
• Low-Risk Inventory: Focus on developing conventional assets using unconventional technologies within established, low-risk basins like the D-J and Permian. This approach provides a predictable inventory of growth opportunities.
• Operational Control: Actively manage a mix of operated and non-operated working interests, allowing for capital discipline while benefiting from partner expertise and diversified risk exposure.

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) How It Makes Money

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) makes money by acquiring, developing, and producing crude oil, natural gas, and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) from its core assets in the Permian Basin and the Denver-Julesberg (D-J) Basin, selling these commodities at market prices.

The company's top-line revenue is a direct function of two variables: the volume of oil and gas it produces and the realized sales price it receives for those commodities in the market.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Revenue Breakdown

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, PEDEVCO Corp.'s total sales from oil, natural gas, and NGLs were approximately $22.7 million. The revenue mix is heavily skewed toward liquids, which comprised 84% of the total production volume in Q3 2025. Here is the breakdown based on the Q2 2025 revenue mix, which provides the most granular data on the split between the three streams:

Here's the quick math on the near-term trend: Q3 2025 revenue was $7.0 million, a 23% drop from the same quarter in 2024, driven by a decline in both realized prices and production volumes. This is why you need to look past the historical numbers.

Business Economics

The core economics of PEDEVCO Corp. are a classic upstream energy play, meaning its profitability is acutely sensitive to commodity price swings and its ability to manage lease operating expenses (LOE) and capital expenditures (CapEx). The average realized sales price per Barrel of Oil Equivalent (Boe) fell from $57.97 in Q3 2024 to $51.46 in Q3 2025, an 11% decline that directly hit the top line.

But the entire economic equation changed with the transformative merger completed on October 31, 2025, with portfolio companies controlled by Juniper Capital Advisors, L.P. What this estimate hides is a massive shift in scale and economic potential. The combined, pro forma entity is expected to produce over 6,500 BOEPD, a more than four-fold increase from the prior production levels. This immediately improves the company's scale, which is crucial for negotiating better service contracts and reducing per-unit operating costs.

• Commodity Price Sensitivity: An 11% price drop in Q3 2025 was the primary driver of the revenue decline.
• Operational Focus: The company is focused on horizontal drilling in the Permian Basin and D-J Basin to maximize production from existing acreage.
• New Scale: The post-merger entity's production is expected to be >80% oil, which is the higher-value liquid, improving the overall revenue quality.

PEDEVCO Corp.'s Financial Performance

The financial performance in 2025 reflects a company in transition, but the balance sheet was strong pre-merger, which provided the foundation for the new deal. For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the company reported a net loss of $1.86 million, a sharp reversal from the net income of $6.37 million in the prior year period. This near-term deterioration was due to lower prices and volumes, plus rising operating costs.

Still, the company maintained a strong liquidity position before the merger, with $13.7 million in cash and zero debt as of September 30, 2025. The Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), a key measure of operational cash flow, was $4.3 million.

The post-merger financial structure is what matters now. The company took on new debt to fund the transaction, increasing total debt to approximately $87 million while maintaining approximately $10 million in cash. This move is a clear pivot toward a more aggressive, capital-intensive growth strategy, with a planned CapEx for 2025 of $27 million to $33 million to develop new wells. For a deeper dive into the new ownership structure, you should be Exploring PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why? Exploring PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

• Q3 2025 Net Loss: $325 thousand.
• Q3 2025 Operating Loss: $834 thousand.
• Pro Forma Debt: Approximately $87 million post-merger.
• 2025 CapEx Plan: $27 million to $33 million for drilling and completion.

PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Market Position & Future Outlook

PEDEVCO Corp. is in a transformative phase as of late 2025, shifting its identity from a smaller Permian/DJ Basin player to a focused, high-growth operator in the Rocky Mountain region. The recent merger with Juniper Capital's portfolio companies fundamentally changes its scale, boosting its daily production to over 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD), which is a significant jump from its prior average of 1,471 BOEPD in Q3 2025.

This strategic move positions the company for an aggressive consolidation and organic growth strategy centered on its expanded 328,000 net acres in the Northern DJ and Powder River Basins. The future is now about execution, not just survival.

Competitive Landscape

In the vast US exploration and production (E&P) sector, PEDEVCO Corp. is a small-cap entity, but the Juniper merger makes it a more relevant pure-play in the Rockies. While a direct market share percentage is hard to pin down for a regional operator, we can map its relative size using daily production against competitors, which is a better gauge of operational scale.

Here's the quick math: Gran Tierra Energy's 2025 guidance midpoint of 50,000 BOEPD makes it about 7.7 times larger in production than PEDEVCO's new base of >6,500 BOEPD, so they operate on entirely different scales. Evolution Petroleum, at around 7,074 BOEPD in fiscal 2025, is a more comparable small-cap peer, but PEDEVCO's advantage is its concentrated, oil-weighted position in the Rockies, which is a higher-growth basin than some of Evolution Petroleum's legacy fields.

Opportunities & Challenges

You need to see the near-term opportunities tied directly to the merger and the risks that come with that kind of rapid, leveraged growth. The biggest opportunity is simply turning on the taps from the new inventory.

Industry Position

PEDEVCO Corp. has intentionally carved out a niche as a pure-play, oil-weighted operator in the Rocky Mountain region, specifically the DJ and Powder River Basins. This is a deliberate shift away from the hyper-competitive Permian Basin.

• New Scale: The merger gives them a critical mass, moving them from a micro-cap producer to a small-cap E&P with a production base of over 6,500 BOEPD.
• Financial Foundation: The company maintains a conservative capital structure, even with the new debt, and its focus on a competitive cost structure is a key differentiator.
• Growth Trajectory: The immediate catalyst is the completion of 32 wells in late 2025/early 2026, which is defintely expected to drive material production and revenue growth.
• Analyst View: As of November 2025, analysts have a consensus of Strong Buy with a price target of $1.50, reflecting optimism about the post-merger growth story.

To understand the financial implications of this new debt and capital structure, you should read Breaking Down PEDEVCO Corp. (PED) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.