An old post but important one. And my response is specific to Texas, as I have experience owning property there.
Yes the oil company can most likely explore on your in-laws property if they get the rights from the mineral owner(s), i.e. lease the rights. This may seem unfair, but it would also be unfair to the mineral owner, were he unable to produce his minerals. Owning minerals would have no value in that case.
Anyone purchasing property should be aware of this. It is ultimately the buyers' responsibility to understand what they are buying. We are lucky in this country that we are free to own and produce minerals. In many other countries the government owns all rights and receives all benefits.
The best thing your in-laws could do (or could have done) would be to attempt to negotiate terms with the oil company. Distance of operations from structures, interference with land owners' activities, agreed upon ingress/egress. While the oil co has no obligation to accommodate the land owner, most will be reasonable, if the other side is reasonable. Go into the situation with good faith and you will most likely reach an agreement. The oil companies are doing their job, and if you be nice, they will usually be nice, and use as little of your property as possible. But if you're not nice, they won't be either and you'll end up worse off then you could've been. You will hear horror stories from property owners stating otherwise, but in my experience, those owners were unreasonable from the start.
That's not to say they were always wrong. I said "usually." I know there have been cases where those horror stories are valid and justified. And I'm sure someone will respond and tell one. I empathize, I've been there. But the bottom line is you must accept the reality of the situation. Exploration is going to happen. What's fair to one is not fair to all. The world's not fair. By purchasing property with no mineral rights, you have to accept the possible result. No one forced you into purchasing the property. And "I didn't know" is really no excuse. It's the purchaser's responsibility to know what is being purchased. Maybe the seller would have agreed to a deed restriction to not allow exploratory operations with 200 yards of any home.
Oil companies are more self-conscious of their image and reputation than they used to be. They will typically do their best to be considerate of everyone involved. They don't want to instigate conflict because it could result in costly new government regulations and difficulty in future negotiations. The people working for them are people too. They don't want to hurt anyone, they just want to do their jobs and keep their jobs. Not to mention the millions of jobs created by exploration.
So in short, yes. It may seem unfair but that's the rules.
