This is the term for a well drilled in an area where no current oil or gas production exists.

• A. Appraisal Well
• B. Wildcat, or Rank Wildcat
• C. Development Well
• D. Production Well

Answer: (B)

The request is for an exploratory effort in unproven territory. Drilling in an area with no current oil or gas production is called a wildcat well. It’s all about trying to find where hydrocarbons exist when there’s little or no prior production data. A rank wildcat is the most ambitious, high-risk version of that, aimed at frontier areas with the greatest uncertainty about geology and potential yield.

In contrast, an appraisal well is drilled after a discovery to determine the size and quality of the reservoir in an area that’s already known to contain hydrocarbons. A development well is drilled within an established field to produce more oil or gas, and a production well is one that’s actively producing.