I inherited 5 acres of minerals already leased but the division order showers a little over 3 acres were leased. Does this mean I have a little over 1 acre to lease? What are the implications to being paid past royalties?
You would need a title opinion to determine your actual ownership River accretion can be a real issue out there as many boundaries are dependent upon changes in the riverbed. Otherwise, the drilling unit may only cover part of the leased property. If the land lies in two sections, then there may be two units.... or one unit and the rest lies outside the unit boundary.
Unfortunately, if you are a typical lease holder, you didn't caveat the lease on the premise that any undeveloped land will expire. In other words, production from 1 acre can hold the lease on the other acres even when they don't produce. Sometimes called a horizontal Pugh clause, that is a clause you need to prevent all the property described in a lease from being held without production based upon only a part actually producing.
It is all in the same section.
Contact the Division Order Analyst that goes with the Division order. Explain your question. Ask them for the portion of the title opinion that pertains to your acreage and how they got to that number. Ask them for a copy of the lease if you do not have it. You need to check for a Pugh clause, but if it is a horizontal well, then probably all your acres are held by the previous lease and you cannot lease it again.
What is your exact question about past royalties? Is this a new well or an old well?
I have been receiving royalties from two wells on the 3 or so acres since 2010. Devon has a permit to drill a multiunit well in the future.
Horizontal wells
You can still ask for the title opinion. Good time to sort it all out. Might just need to fix it, or it might be less than you thought. You will get royalties on the new multi-unit based upon the previous lease. The Royalty interest decimal will be different since the well will only partially be in your section.
NMA/spacing or actual acres of section x royalty x % of well perforations in your section.