This text provides authoritative coverage of the legal rules that govern the development of privately owned mineral rights in the United States, which often also apply to government-owned resources. It covers topics such as the nature, protection, and conveyance of oil and gas rights, leasing, and taxation. The 7th edition tracks recent developments in the law and expands Appalachian coverage.

The principal function of this forms manual is to illustrate the exceptional importance of specific language to all contract-based transactions. Unintended ambiguities or carelessness in wording may result in the loss of properties worth millions of dollars. Additionally, differences in state law, regional custom, the identity and interests of the client, and the peculiarities of the specific transaction require a lawyer to choose carefully which form to use as the basis of the transaction. For this reason, there are often included several forms for the same transaction.