re: Just bought 40 acres

You can ask the mineral owner to include a no drill clause, or at the very least, ask them to include a 'no drilling within 500 feet of any house, barn or structure' ( the lease give you 200 feet in the standard language). If it's only 300 acres, the company may not be willing to do that, though. Other than that, you're pretty well hamstrung. The lease will trump your rights as a surface owner, so in theory, the mineral owner holds all the cards. The company will negotiate directly with you in the event they want to lay a road or put a well site on the property.

Also keep in mind, that 10 year mineral reservation is 10 years of NONPRODUCTION. If they drill a well next year and find something, that 10 year prescription is halted and started over when the well stops producing.

Good luck.