1. a well drilled in an area where no oil or gas production exists. 2. (nautical) the geared sheave of a windlass used to pull anchor chain. v: to drill wildcat wells.

a wildcat well.

a floating offshore drilling unit that has pontoons and columns that when flooded cause the unit to submerge in the water to a predetermined depth. Living quarters, storage space, and so forth a reassembled on the deck. Semisubmersible rigs are either self-propelled or towed to a drilling site and either anchored or dynamically positioned over [...]

drilling for oil or gas in an ocean, gulf, or sea, usually on the Outer Continental Shelf. A drilling unit for offshore operations may be a mobile floating vessel with a ship or barge hull, a semisubmersible or submersible base, a self-propelled or towed structure with jacking legs (jackup drilling rig), or a permanent structure [...]

a drilling rig that is used exclusively to drill offshore exploration and development wells and that floats upon the surface of the water when being moved from one drill site to another. It may or may not float once drilling begins. Two basic types of mobile offshore drilling units are used to drill most offshore [...]

also called a wildcat. See wildcat.

1. to cease efforts to produce oil or gas from a well, and to plug a depleted formation and salvage all material and equipment. 2. to cease producing oil and gas from a well when it becomes unprofitable. A wildcat well may be abandoned after it has proven nonproductive. Several steps are involved in abandoning [...]