[Wonder Warthog]

"I don’t think they stopped growing on leased land that wasn’t drilled. Just collected an extra check while doing business as usual. And the ones that were drilled typically take up a few acres out of 50~100 acres or so."

Absolutely correct. The oil companies prefer to lease large landholdings not because they need the surface acreage, but because it minimizes the paperwork.

Back when the "Tuscaloosa Trend" was hot in central Louisiana, the lease-seekers ALWAYS approached the big land-owners first, then the little guys.

The actual land used for drilling is a postage stamp by comparison.

[American Constitutionalist]

http://www.anwr.org/Technology/Today-s-drilling-leaves-a-small-footprint.php