A worked sample
SAMPLE, made-up lease. A 640 acre lease keeps, at the end of its continuous development period, 40 acres around each producing oil well and 160 acres around each producing gas well, down to 100 feet below the deepest completed depth. Two oil wells and one gas well are producing on that date.
Retained: 40 plus 40 plus 160, or 240 acres, each tract limited to its own depth. Released: 400 acres, and every depth below each limit.
What to check
- The trigger date, and which wells were producing on it.
- How the clause describes each retained tract: shape, acreage, and whether it follows state proration units.
- Completed depths from the completion records.
- Whether the lessee's partial release matches the clause.
We are landmen, not attorneys. This page describes the land record in general terms. It is not legal advice, and every matter turns on its own instruments.