carol

Carol,
Sounds like you have been approached by a lease flipper. How much acreage do you have?

Have you talked with your neighbors re, offers they are receiving? You could band together and negotiate with the big players. Then you could be sure the one you lease with has the capability to actually directionally drill.

A lease flipper is someone who leases your minerals low then turns around and sells the lease to the big players high. I never think going into a lease fast is a good idea. One should never sign a standard lease either. There needs to be protections negotiated in like pugh clauses, quality of life and environmental clauses like noise abatement, distance from homes, if in the country water protections, there needs to be environmental and endemnity clauses to protect the land owner from future law suites, etc.