Sigrid:
Your minerals are in a very “hot” area of the Bakken and leasing will be very easy. I would allow the lease to expire and begin to market your minerals to various operators. Further, I would not accept less than 20% royalty with a 3 year max. on the lease. In this area, most likely you will be contacted by numerous companies but I have found that the oil companies use a lease broker to negotiate the leasing. You can always ask who they are leasing for and gather information on the operator. Keep in mind, if a lease broker is leasing for Company A, it doesn’t mean that this company will actually drill the well. This is an area where you have no control but you do have control over the bonus/acre, royalty, length of the lease and the terms of the lease. Do some additional research about contents of the lease such as “Pugh Clauses”, transportation costs of the crude and other matters that will affect your royalty amount. There are numerous posts on this forum that address contents of a lease. Just remember, time is on your side and don’t be in a hurry to make decisions in the leasing process.