I disagree with your statement "that any well drilled on your property is a good well". While this might be true, it can be very untrue. I cite the following from a personal experience. My brothers and I leased 1/2 of a 266 acre tract to an operator who was working with Chesapeake WITHOUT a depth limitation clause. A well was drilled and completed in the cretaceous (Rodessa-Travis Peak Consolidated). This well in a 40 acre drilling unit is holding the entire 266 acres and is producing 3-4 mmcf a month--or that is what this operator and CHK are flowing it at anyway. Several vertical wells in the immediate vicinity have encountered several hundred feet (a thousand feet or more) of upper Jurassic shale and limestone in the Bossier and Haynesville formations.

That so-called "well" in the upper cretaceous zones is of course holding that lease by "production". Undoubtedly, in some future time that 266 acres will be explored in the deeper zones which are highly probable for excellent production.

This is a long winded way to say that it is mandatory to demand depth limiting clauses in any lease negotiations pertaining to East texas or NW LA. So much of the cretaceous is productive---at minimal costs to drill as well as minimally productive that unscrupulous operators can quickly and cheaply drill a borderline "commercial" well and virtually HOLD your acreage until gas prices and rig availability come your way. This might be a year or more or many years in the future which of course is all right if you know how to live for a thousand years. If you don't it frankly stinks.

Avoid all this by insisting on depth limiting clauses in your lease or leases. . You would think that the self interest of an O&G operator would cause them to develop your property as quickly as possible, but that isn't always the case. Especially when they can drill a shallow well on your property, hold it by production and tie up your lease for years while paying you a pittance each month while they seek out other O&Gs that will pay THEM and not you the real value of your leased property. This is a sad story that is repeated thousands and thousands of times. It can be prevented with depth limiting clauses.