The lease clause dictionary
Every clause in the lease, in plain English.
An oil and gas lease is built out of dozens of separate clauses, almost none of which the document ever bothers to explain. This is a working dictionary of the common ones — what each does, why it matters to you, why the operator wants it, and whether it's already in the standard printed form or something someone had to ask for.
How to use this: don't read it front to back — search it. Pull up your own lease, find a phrase you don't recognize, and look it up. Search by name below, or filter by the part of the lease it lives in.
A note on the two-sided framing: nearly every clause here exists because someone had a real reason to want it. Understanding the operator's reasoning is what turns a negotiation into a conversation instead of a fight — so each entry gives their side too.
Know this — vocabulary, no side to take
Ask for this — favors the mineral owner
Confirm / consent — read it, check the wording
Red flag — push to strike or narrow it
No clauses match that search. Try a different word, or clear the filter.