***Does this woman, actually think she’s gonna get nearly a 1/2 million dollars up front,***
Most likely she will be offered a two year contract for a few hundred or thousand dollars to give a company rights to drill, WHEN THEY WISH.
If they drill and find gas she will most likely be given the choice of 1/8 or 3/16 of the royalties as long as there is recoverable gas in the well.
The royalties will be partitioned out with other land owners in that particular drilling area.
3% is the going rate, unless you are very skilled. With an unproven play, she’ll bring in a few hundred on a three year lease, with proven production, she could draw several thousand at least every two years.
Most likely, with her limited amount of land, she could draw around 20k yearly with a Producer..
As far as other landowners are concerned, sure, they could pool, and horizontal drilling could play a part, but, well, see above “unless you are very skilled”