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Permalink Reply by Spring Branch,mineral owner on February 17, 2011 at 23:20

It all depends on the Unit size.  Everyone in the Unit is paid royalty. In the case of the Haynesville, the Unit size is typically 640 acres, so everyone in the section is paid royalty.  With a shallower well, the unit size could be 320 acres (or even smaller) so one would have to own minerals in that 320 acres to be paid royalty. 

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Permalink Reply by The_Baron on February 18, 2011 at 4:37

Its not uncommon to see unit sizes of 40 acres in the wilcox.

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on February 18, 2011 at 3:57

JW, many shallow oil & gas wells (ie 3000 ft or less) are drilled on a "lease" basis so only that mineral owner shares in the production.  There are spacing rules that limit how close such a well can be to a lease boundary.

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Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on February 18, 2011 at 9:33

In theory, the spacing rules Les mentions keeps someone from forming a unit next to you, drilling a well, and taking the oil or gas from under your land without paying you. 

 

Different rock formations need different rules because some formations are more porous than others and you need larger spacing. 

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