re: Oil companies drilling on your land in exchange for a percentage of what they find?

gotcha.

Ive seen some interesting deals worked out with big land owners. A few years ago Goodrich worked out a deal with one guy not far from me. He owns a construction company including gravel pits and trucks. They contracted him to do 5 well well pads for them and in exchange, they formed a unit that included only his land. Their lateral went the length of his property. Of course the well didn't produce shite, had a blowout that killed a shite load of trees in a big area and he was still on the hook for doing the pads.