Is there any benefit to go with forced pooling versus an offer?
If I can get an excellent lease with the terms that my attorney and I want, then I will lease at the highest royalty possible. If the company won’t budge, then force pooling is a good alternative.
The pooling is controlled by the corporation commission judge and is supposed to offer a set of bonus/royalty options that are the highest offered for the tract by the operator in the last 12 months.
The reservoir of interest and the zones immediately above and below are usually included (with some exceptions). That criteria acts as a depth clause which leaves you open to another lease or force pool in the future.
The time frame is usually six-18 months in which to drill, so can be shorter than a lease.
If hiring an attorney is not feasible, then the force pooling is a less expensive option. I usually pick the highest royalty option as the royalties from a successful well (and future wells) for many years usually far outweigh the one time bonus and the lower royalty.
This section is probably not going to be a huge barn burner in the Woodford, so optimizing the royalty will be important.
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