I am wondering what happens if the mineral owner and oil company fail to enter into a lease and the oil company goes ahead a drills a well.
Suppose that the drill site is not on any land in which the mineral owner owns minerals BUT the oil company drills a horizontal well where the latteral traverses acreage owned by the mineral owner.
In Texas, does the mineral owner have an unleased cotenancy entitling the mineral owner to its share of production?
See the paper by Judon Fambrough linked in my post in the following: Well paid out after going non consent - #2 by AJ11 but please note that the publication date was 2014.
You have statutes in TX regarding unleased mineral cotennants. As you might guess, there are several levels of complications. In order for the operator to include your tract in a unit, it must be the owner of some fraction of leasehold rights within that tract. This will apply to vertical and horizontal units. The operator will be able to recover the cost of the well and potentially a penalty depending on statute compliance. You will be entitled to a share of production at some point and the operator has the obligation to report to you all revenues and expenses.
Did the operator file for MIPA? Here is a great breakdown of that process: https://theenergylawgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/HELG-MIPA-FINAL.pdf