bones,
That's good to hear. The money flowing from 'investors' into shale drilling deals down in the Eagle Ford is still peanuts compared to what it was a few years ago. Of course, those boys in the Permian who have unleased (but good) acreage are still bringing in damn good money bonus-wise. (Although bonus isn't everything, as we all know).
To keep abreast, I suggest you sign up for the free 'Lease Alert' from courthousedirect.com for the counties in which you have an interest. They'll email you a monthly report on all the mineral / oil & gas related documents filed that month. Remember, sometimes the lessee's sit on these a while before filing to kind of hide their areas of interest.
You'll see who is signing leases and where they are. Get you a county abstract map and you can see what the 'experts' are currently interested in. You won't get any details money-wise from that, though. You'll need to talk to a local oil & gas attorney (or the lessors themselves ) or some landmen to find out that type of info.
Also, go check the rigcount from Baker Hughes and you can see the number of rigs working by RRC district. That report is free, too. That's more general information, though, rather than specific.
You can also do an online drilling permit search on the RRC website. Check out your counties of interest and look at the location and plats to see what's going on.
Since you've already been contacted, you may have some good stuff. Who knows? Sometimes even the operators don't, from what I've witnessed.
Let me know if you need links for those things. I don't have them handy at the moment.
