Resources
General education, written for people who did not choose to be in this business — they inherited it, bought the farm, or woke up to a letter in the post.
A landman researches who owns the mineral estate, negotiates the agreements that allow it to be explored or produced, and keeps the resulting obligations in order. The work sits between the record room, the kitchen table and the boardroom.
In many jurisdictions the surface and the minerals beneath it can be owned separately. A severed mineral estate is generally dominant, meaning it carries a right of reasonable surface use — which is exactly why surface use and damages terms deserve as much attention as the royalty.
Bonus is a per-acre payment for signing. It reflects offset activity, the operator's drilling schedule, the term length and the depth rights conveyed. A quiet county and an active one can differ by an order of magnitude for identical acreage.
Royalty is your share of production. What matters almost as much is whether it is calculated before or after gathering, compression, treating and marketing costs. A cost-free royalty clause is often worth more over a well's life than a higher headline percentage.
Most leases run a primary term and then continue for as long as production in paying quantities lasts. Understanding what keeps a lease alive — and what lets it expire — determines whether acreage is genuinely available.
A division order states the decimal interest a purchaser will pay you on. It does not amend the lease, and it should never be signed as if it does. Verify the decimal against your own title work first.