Here in Alberta (BC & Saskatchewan), for the most part, oil & gas rights are owned by the government. This is a very good thing for the people, assuming the government does right by the people.
The reason it is a good thing for the people, is that royalties on sales of production, are collected by the government and then the government has more money to use for health,infrastructure, etc. These things all benefit the people.
The surface owners are compensated for the loss of the use of their land, by the oil companies paying an original bonus consideration, fee for loss of use, etc. and annually a rental (rents are usually more than $3000.00 per year, it depends on the size of the land being used to drill and/or produce)
I could go on and on and in much greater detail, but for those not working in the oil industry, this is probably too much info already.