So far negotiations have gone pretty well....thought I was getting to the end when I did a detailed read and saw this Shut in language and was surprised....looked like an option to tie up the land for almost no payment.....and I thought I must just be too inexperienced to properly interpret it.
With excellent guidance from this forum I am trying to negotiate and avoid legal fees....but if at any point if anything looks dicey and they won't modify the lease I am going to hire Kyle Nuttall.
Not a bad idea to consider having him look at your final negotiated version and see if he thinks he can improve things. Worth the money I think. If nothing else, a one time fee to review.
Always the best if the mineral owner does a lot of homework, reading etc.
I don't know if you have seen these (I found these online and have benefited. Aimed at Texas, but many general principles) :
Links for Oil and Gas Lease Terms and Negotiation
http://www.gdhm.com/images/pdf/jbm-ogleasechecklist.pdf
CHECKLIST FOR NEGOTIATING AN OIL AND GAS LEASE
http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/229.pdf
Hints on Negotiating An Oil and Gas Lease
Back to shut in: the idea is that the well is drilled and ready to produce, or has started producing. For some reason (many good some not good) they decide they need to shut it in for awhile. You don't want them to have your land and minerals tied up indefinitely, but sometimes it is to everybody's benefit for this shut in to go ahead. I am relying on Kyle Nuttall to advise me on this so don't consider myself an expert. I do know that it is not always a simple yes or no about shut in.