What bonus is
Bonus is consideration to take an oil and gas lease: a dollar figure, almost always quoted per net mineral acre, paid so they get the right to explore and produce for the primary term. It is not Royalty. It is not a mineral deed offer. Mixing those three is how a cover sheet that looks like a check becomes a permanent sale — or a thin lease you thought was a buyout.
The printed bonus is their number on the acres they think you own. Title, proportionate reduction, and unpaid NMA still change what actually clears. This page is not legal advice. Mineral Vertex buys oil and gas minerals and matches owners with buyers. We do not promise to beat every letter.
Copies of the printed lease — bonus, NMA, and when they pay — are enough to start. Do not notarize their form because the per-acre line looks large. Confirm the acres they will pay on before you treat bonuses as money in hand.
Types of bonuses
People say bonuses in the plural because one lease can stack more than one cash line:
| Type | What it is |
|---|---|
| Lease / signing bonus | The main per-NMA payment to grant the lease. Often a draft payable after title, not a cashier’s check at the kitchen table. |
| Paid-up bonus | Extra (or all) of the bonus in lieu of delay rentals so they do not have to pay yearly to keep the primary term alive without drilling. |
| Extension / option bonus | A second payment if they elect to extend the primary term. That option is extra consideration — not free calendar. |
| Additional consideration | A catch-all on some drafts: another lump, a well commitment, or a “see Exhibit.” Read it. It can be the real deal. |
| Top-lease bonus | Cash for a lease that only springs if an older lease dies. You can be offered two bonuses on the same tract. They are two papers. |
Shut-in royalty is not a bonus. Delay rentals are not bonuses either, unless the form folds them into a paid-up payment. Location still changes the number — Haynesville mail and Permian mail do not share one “standard bonus.” Use locations.
What they pay on
Bonus is quoted on net mineral acres, not on the gross acres in the caption and not on the surface farm. Proportionate reduction can shrink the bonus if you do not own 100% of the minerals they described. Pooling / unit does not usually re-spread the bonus after the fact — it spreads later Royalty. Confirm NMA, depths, and whether payment is due on signing or after they like title.
Bonus vs a mineral deed
A lease bonus rents the right to drill. A mineral deed’s purchase price buys the estate (or a slice) usually forever. If the envelope has both a bonus line and a granting clause that sells, treat them as two deals. Recording the deed is hard to unwind. Banking a bonus draft is not a sale of the minerals unless the paper says it is.
What to read twice on bonus
- Per net mineral acre — and whose NMA. Their exhibit vs your deed.
- When it pays — on execution, on title approval, or on a bank draft with a stated number of days.
- Paid-up vs rentals — whether yearly payments are still due in the primary term.
- Extension money — a second bonus if they keep the lease without a well.
- The legal — match survey or section-township-range on the oil and gas map.
Use how to respond if you need a week, then send bonus here — meaning the lease (and any deed in the packet) — so we can try an offer, a buyer match, or a counter.
Let us counter or match this offer
Photos or PDFs of the letter and every deed or lease page, the county, and whether you get royalty now. We buy minerals and we match owners with buyers. We will try a counter on their number, or put you with a buyer who might. We do not promise to beat every letter — we do ask you to send it before you sign.