well said RW. People getting a bank draft/sight draft has no guarantee of payment regardless of any escrow arrangements. The point is there is no assurance they will honor the lease and payment agreement. It is that simple. If you manage to write the perfect lease and Order For Payment then you still will have a legal battle (at your expense) if they do not pay. Same with an escrow arrangement that isn't fulfilled. It is a shame that it has come to this, but as RW notes landowners must be thorough and extremely cautious. Gascos have been leasing for years and are experts at what works to their advantage and how to "out fox" the landowner if they need to. So they want the lease then they can deliver a check (a real business check!), I would even then use an attorney all the way through the process even escrowing the lease until the business check cleared (again not sight or bank draft type of bogus checks).
Please understand that signing a lease with an OFP or bank/sight draft is a legal commitment from a landowner only (that means once signed a landowner cannot get out easily) on the other hand, as RW suggests, the gasco is making no commitment even though to us landowners it appears to be a legit contract. The other tactic is to get your lease and record the mineral lease and not making the payment and then again legal action is required to fight the gasco to get them to release it. In the meantime, the title is "clouded" and other gascos can't lease your minerals.
Don't take the chance.