Wildcatter
A wildcatter is an American term for a person who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration wells drilled in areas not known to be producing fields.
How it’s important to us
Wildcat wells are practically only drilled onshore. Most wells currently drilled are based on knowledge of hydrocarbon formations nearby, however wildcat wells break this paradigm. Oftentimes, a piece of metadata we deal with about a well will be its field (an area of reservoirs in the same geologic structure). This is usually a named entity, but in the case of a wildcat well, it is unknown or simply labeled as “wildcat”. It’s important to know that this isn’t actually a designated field name, but rather a broad distinction for wildcat wells.
