Executive Rights
The right to lease the minerals — to sign an oil and gas lease and negotiate its terms — sometimes owned apart from the royalty.
Executive rights are the power to lease the minerals: to sign an oil and gas lease, negotiate the royalty rate and bonus, and choose the lessee. It is one of the sticks in the bundle of mineral interest rights, and it can be owned separately from the right to receive royalty income.
When executive rights are split from the royalty — as with a non-participating royalty interest — the executive owner makes the leasing decisions while another party collects part of the royalty. In many states the executive owes a duty of good faith or fair dealing to those non-executive owners, though the standard varies by state.
For buyers, confirming who holds the executive right is critical: without it, you cannot lease the minerals yourself. Verify it during a title search before closing.