@CW_Croley, appreciate your 30 years of perspective, but I don’t find the argument against extensions convincing. If conditions deteriorate so that project won’t go forward, then it doesn’t matter whether you checked the extension or not, the project doesn’t happen either way. If conditions only deteriorate a little, however, then the extended lease wins.
Consider the last 3 years… If I signed up at $90 a barrel prices, if lease renews now I get $90 a barrel bonus again, whereas new leases only get the $60 price. There seems to be a great concern or fear of missing out on a hot market, but how likely is that after a primary term expires? After primary term lease prices are probably pretty well established and way less speculative.
Risking force pooling or going unleased seems completely unreasonable when the lease extension bonus is probably the easiest money a lessor can make. You don’t have to negotiate, take a quiz or attend a presentation. The only finger lifting you have to do is to sign the back of check before you deposit it. Being unleased / force pooled, 300% risk penalized, becoming part of the non-op working interest and condemning your heirs to pay for plugging costs seems a poor alternative to taking the easiest money in the world.