Hi Robert,
From a local point of view, this play is just starting! It will go on for years in this area. The oil companies are going to make tons of money and hopefully so will we.
I see that you have only a few mineral acres and you reside in Calif. When the time comes and you get an offer for your minerals, here is what I would do if I were in your shoes:
Go here
http://www.co.weld.co.us/Departments/Purchasing/CurrentRequests/Oil...
and download one of Weld County (government) oil lease forms and read it and compare it to what ever is presented to you. Notice the differences and decide if you need to act on them. Actually it would be a good idea to save one to your computer in case Weld is not leasing when the day comes and you have a lease offer.
Lease for Not more than 3 years for the primary term and no extensions.
If they offer a bonus for the option to extend... turn it down. The lease will be worth much more when it expires (if un-drilled).
Not less than 20% royalty. Use Weld County (government) as justification.
Royalty paid so that you are not responsible for any production costs (but possibly some 3d party transportation costs).
Bonus somewhere around$1000 to $1500 per net mineral acre.
Seperate leases on seperate lands.
$20 per acre for shut in wells (not the cheesy $1 or $2 per acre that has never changed for the last 30-40 years)
I suspect that with your small net acreage, you will be more likely to be force pooled than if you had a larger percentage of a drill spacing (640 acres), so factor that into the strength of your negotiations.
"IF" I understand the royalty process correctly (Anyone else... please jump in here) .... you can do some really rough numbers to see what kind of income will be "POSSIBLE" and then see why professional help is advisable.
3 (net acres) divided by 640 (acres of drill spacing) times royalty % (use 20%) times barrels per day ( guestimate at 300 barrels) times price of oil at market ( guestimate at $70 ) = $19.69 per day = $590 per month = a little under $7200 per year.
Obviously as you change any of the numbers it will rumble through to different totals. For example, using 15% drops the guestimated $ per day to $14.76 and you are down to roughly $5400 (which is why that royalty % is SO important). Using 20% but drop the barrels per day to 200 and you are at $13.13 per day and roughly $4800 per year. ETC. Etc. etc.
Keep up the research and have fun!