Drilling horizontal wells

mineral 

rights

 rules that govern the ownership of gas produced from vertical 

wells. The gas is often shared by all landowners in a block of land or a 

radius distance from the producing well. 

Horizontal wells introduce a new variable: a single well can penetrate 

and produce gas from multiple parcels with different owners. How can 

the royalties from this gas be fairly shared? This question is normally 

answered prior to drilling through a combination of government rules 

and private royalty-sharing agreements. How 

royalties

 are divided and 

how "hold-out" landowners are treated can be more complex than with a 

vertical well.