What is "usual" depends on what part of the country you are in. The rules and regulations governing drilling vary from state to state. As a general rule, never sign a lease agreement as presented by the energy company. It will be formatted to their benefit - not yours and they expect you to negotiate. Never sign an open ended lease. Always have a term, 3 to 5 years, whereby if they don't drill the mineral rights revert to you. The owners royalty is usually in the region of 12-1/2% to 15% but can be negotiated upwards, depends on how desperate they are to drill. Contrary to some advice here, never, ever sell the land. That's how some oil companies became huge in real estate, buying mineral rights and land from dirt poor farmers for next to nothing back in the early part of last century. Get everything you want from them if they drill and produce in the original agreement - loss of land use, damages to fences and property, how they will run the pipeline, roads etc., etc., in the original agreement. If you are unsure about all this, get in touch with a lawyer familiar with leasing arrangements. He will cost you money but he should also save you from some expensive mistakes that will be very difficult if not impossible to fix later on.
