Top leasing is a time issue, not a depth one. It is a lease that would start the moment that an old lease ends. They typically only pay a small amount up front because they are trying to break an old lease and then pay the rest IF they are successful. Personally, not a fan of them. Others are.
If you have an old lease that has good clauses and you are fine with it, and you are patient, then there is no need to let it go. If you have a less favorable lease and the new lease is much better, then you might consider it. I am pretty sure that the new lease at first glance is not better in its clauses, but could be negotiated to be. Sometimes, one of those old 1/8th gross royalties leases are much better than a new 3/16ths lease that has post production charges snuck into it. Tthe PPC charges can really take away your royalties.
You have several choices. If the well is no longer producing in paying quantities, then you can demand that the operator either fix it or plug it and release you from your lease without any help from anyone else. You can just hang on and wait for that new horizontal well with your old lease. You can consider the top lease, but better get some help with the lease clauses and get a good Ex A so that it really is a better lease.
Here is an article that may help you understand some of the legal issues and why I won’t do the top lease.
An Overview of Recurring and Related Issues Involving Top Leasing.pdf (210.2 KB)
A lot of the acreage by Charter Oak was bought by BP and they are about to drill horizontal wells. If you want to share the section, township and range, I can look it up and see the pending activity around you and also see if that $1000 and 3/16ths is even close to what the pooling numbers are.