Wildcat drilling is a form of exploratory drilling in the oil & gas exploration and production process that seeks to exploit unproven or high-risk areas. A wildcat driller may alternatively seek to return to existing or older wells that are no longer profitable or useful for larger oil companies.
What is a wildcat well?
In the world of oil and gas exploration, a wildcat well is an exploratory oil well that is drilled in land not known to be an oil field – it is the well where wildcat drillers explore. “Wildcat drilling refers to exploring for oil or gas in an unproven or unexplored area.
What is wildcat drilling in geology?
Wildcat Drilling. What is Wildcat Drilling? Wildcat drilling, also known as exploratory drilling, is the process of drilling for oil or natural gas in unproven or fully exploited areas that either have no concrete historic production records or have been fully exploited as a site for oil and gas output.
Is wildcat drilling a good investment?
As with a wildcat business – one in which the risk of huge profits are the same as huge losses – in wildcat drilling the investment might pay off handsomely or cause the investor to lose a lot of money. For small oil and gas companies, wildcat drilling can be ‘make-or-break’ ventures.
What is a wildcatter?
A wildcatter is a person who drills wildcat wells. In American oil and gas history, there are some notable wildcatters, including: Thomas Baker Slick Sr., Glenn McCarthy, Clem S. Clarke, Joe Trees, and Columbus Marion Joiner. Joiner found the East Texas Oil Field in 1930, a giant field covering 140,000 acres (570 km 2 ).
What is meant by wildcat well?
Wildcat well means a well outside known fields or the first well drilled in an oil or gas field where no other oil and gas production exists.
What do Wildcatters do?
A wildcatter is an individual who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration of oil wells drilled in areas not known to be oil fields.
How were wildcatters involved in the oil industry?
Despite not being the first oil well, Spindletop set off the oil boom in Texas, resulting in an influx of wildcatters. A wildcatter is someone who drills wells in areas not known to be oil fields. Wildcatters were essentially gamblers, taking a lot of risk in hopes to strike it big.
What is a wildcatter person?
Definition of 'wildcatter' 1. an oil prospector. 2. a person who promotes risky or unsound business ventures.
What does wildcat mean in drilling?
Wildcat drilling, a form of high-risk exploratory drilling, is the process of drilling for oil or natural gas in unproven or fully exploited areas that either have no concrete historic production records or have been completely exhausted as a site for oil and gas output.
What's a roustabout do?
A roustabout is a manual laborer who primarily works in the oil and gas drilling fields. They perform a variety of tasks, like inspecting equipment, cleaning work areas and making repairs to ensure the safety and proper function of the machines and tools on the worksite.
Why are oil drillers called roughnecks?
In the United Kingdom's oil industry starting in the 1970s, roughneck specifically meant those who worked on the drill floor of a drilling rig handling specialised drilling equipment for drilling and pressure controls.
What is a person looking to make money off the oil boom called?
12 Reviews. Wildcatters. a person who searches for oil. Gusher.
Why are roughnecks called roughnecks?
Roughnecks weren't always brutes — the term comes from Texas and used to just refer to a “rugged individual.” Then it was a word for someone who worked on an oil rig. But now a roughneck is someone, usually a big man, who's tough, crude, and ready to fight. Roughnecks are the opposite of mild-mannered people.
What are oil rig workers called?
Roustabouts/Roughnecks They are both general laborers, with the roughneck being the more experienced or senior of the two positions.
What is a roughneck?
Definition of roughneck (Entry 1 of 2) 1a : a rough or uncouth person. b : rowdy, tough. 2 : a worker of an oil-well-drilling crew other than the driller.
What is a oil well wildcatter?
Definition of wildcatter 1 : one that drills wells in the hope of finding oil in territory not known to be an oil field. 2 : one that promotes unsafe and unreliable enterprises especially : one that sells stocks in such enterprises.
What is a roughneck?
Definition of roughneck (Entry 1 of 2) 1a : a rough or uncouth person. b : rowdy, tough. 2 : a worker of an oil-well-drilling crew other than the driller.
What industry is Wildcatter in?
In the oil industry, a wildcatter is an oil prospector who drills wildcat wells. These wells are drilled in areas not near other oil fields, and areas that are not known oil producers. The reason for drilling such a well is the hope of discovering a new source of oil to be extracted from the earth.
What is the significance of Spindletop?
The Spindletop oilfield, discovered on a salt dome formation south of Beaumont in eastern Jefferson County on January 10, 1901, marked the birth of the modern petroleum industry.
How did the black gold impact the economy of Texas?
economic boom for Texas. It allowed economic diversification, establishing a Texas industrial base with the construction of oil fields, pipelines, refineries, railroads, port facilities, and their attendant support industries.
What is wildcat drilling?
Wildcat drilling – definition and meaning. Wildcat drilling means drilling for oil or natural gas in areas that have remained unexplored or unproven. The drilling venture is much riskier if the area has no history of oil or gas production, hence the word ‘wildcat’. Investors who are risk-averse would never consider joining a wildcat drilling ...
What is the significance of a wildcat well?
The significance of a wildcat well for the wildcat drilling team, is that by definition very little to nothing regarding the subsurface geology is known with certainty. For this type of venture to have the best chance of success, the drilling crews need to be extremely skilled and experienced in analyzing ...
Can you join a wildcat drilling operation?
Investors who are risk-averse would never consider joining a wildcat drilling operation. As with a wildcat business – one in which the risk of huge profits are the same as huge losses – in wildcat drilling the investment might pay off handsomely or cause the investor to lose a lot of money.
Where did the term "well" come from?
The name originated in the early Pennsylvanian oilfields, when night-drilling crews would hear wildcats howling.” (Image: adapted from indiana.edu)
Is wildcat drilling a make or break venture?
For small oil and gas companies, wildcat drilling can be ‘make-or-break’ ventures. As the area is seen by many as a bit of a financial shot in the dark, those who choose to enter into a wildcat drilling partnership are exposed to extremely high risks. However, if the exploration does discover oil or gas, the investors will be rewarded ...
What is a wildcatter?
A wildcatter is an individual who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration oil wells drilled in areas not known to be oil fields.
Why is the mount cat called the wildcatter?
The mounted cat gave its name to the hollow. Because the area was largely untested and somewhat away from Oil Creek Flats, the term Wildcatter was coined, describing a person who risked drilling in an unproven area.
