For Newbies: Pooling

Elsewhere they are asking what happens if an oil company drills a well but can't find all those who have mineral rights associated with said well. My hunch is that this is what pooling is all about.

Instead of locating every last mineral rights owner and contracting with each mineral rights owner on an individual basis (lots of time wasted), the producer/operator asks the state for permission to "pool" all mineral rights owners, thereby setting remuneration based on agreement reached with a majority of the mineral rights owners. Obviously when an oil company can't find all those with interests in the spacing unit, pooling is the solution. It appears that the right to pool is the last step in the paperwork/bureaucratic process before preparation for drilling actually begins.