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The insider story at Prairie Operating Co. ($PROP) just got a whole lot more interesting. Forget about run-of-the-mill executive buys. On January 2, 2026, major investor Gregory K. O'Neill made a high-conviction move, buying another 210,981 shares of the beaten-down energy stock through his investment vehicle, the Narrogal Nominees Pty Ltd ATF Gregory K O'Neill Family Trust. This isn't a one-off trade; it's the latest act in a multi-million dollar, months-long buying spree from a shareholder who seems to believe the market has it all wrong.
Let's break down how O'Neill has steadily accumulated his massive position, turning the stock's crash into his personal bargain hunt.
\- From Nov 14-24, there was an aggressive 10-day buying spree near 52-week lows. O'Neill invested in 1.736M shares (for roughly $2.78M)
\- Mid-Nov - Dec, 2025, he made nearly daily open-market purchases, totaling nearly over 1.42M shares (\~$2.4M)
\- On both dates (Dec 29, 2025 and Jan 2, 2026 independently), he made a single purchase of (est. cost of) $339,679.
This buying spree makes O'Neill the largest shareholder, now controlling over 28.5 million shares, or 25.96% of the company. All while the stock has fallen 84% since mid-2024.
But why would he bet millions on a crash?
O'Neill's bet hinges on one massive deal: PROP's $602.8 million acquisition of DJ Basin assets. This "bet-the-company" move aims to transform PROP by massively boosting production.
The bottom line here is, O'Neill is gambling that the current stock price (\~$1.81) is wrong and the DJ Basin deal will succeed. For investors, this is a binary choice: side with the insider's deep-value thesis or the market's deep skepticism about the huge debt and execution risk.
Disclaimer - This is not financial advice, please do your own research - [1](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/PROP/),[ 2](https://www.prairieopco.com/),[ 3](https://chartingdaily.com/a-rare-small-cap-growth-play-in-the-u-s-energy-space)