Call them what you will. Risk takers. Speculators. Explorers. All three can have similar implications in certain scenarios. All three are also descriptions of oil wildcatters. In this day and age, a wildcatter is generally someone who is drilling for oil in a spot where there’s no record of oil existing.
It used to be that drilling in an unexplored area could be someplace so remote that the explorer would actually encounter wildcats. Fast forward a century or so, and wildcatters today may find that they’re running in to wild hogs more than wildcats. But “wildhoggers” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?
Right now, the U.S. oil industry is active. That means oil wildcatting is a hot game again, as you’ll see in Blood Trails, my new thriller starring Michael Flint.
American entrepreneur Harold Hamm got his start as an oil tycoon by wildcatting. He’s still active in the industry, and he believes wildcatting can still be successful today:
“It’s harder, but we’re still finding oil in Oklahoma today. The bar has been raised on startup companies, but it can still be done. Every regulation and every rule limits you, but, yes, it can still be done. That’s the beauty of living in a free country and having the freedom to have an idea and become an entrepreneur.”
–Harold Hamm
It was through wildcatting that Tom Slick discovered the jackpot of oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, thus earning his nickname “King of the Wildcatters.” But it took a whole lot of patience, money, and failure before he struck it big time.
Once known as “Dry Hole Slick” by many, on March 12, 1912, Tom Slick discovered Oklahoma’s giant Cushing oilfield on his way to becoming better known as “King of the Wildcatters.”
In the end, despite many “dry hole” failures, a pattern of hard work meant a major pay day for Tom Slick. But will that be the case for Michael Flint?
Unlike Tom Slick, Michael Flint can’t afford to fail. He’s the Heir Hunter of Last Resort for a reason. Check out Blood Trails and find out what wildcatting has to do with heir hunting, and just how many risks Flint can take before his fate is sealed.
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