Okuzeka
Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Exploration & Geology

Dry hole

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

nounCommon term

In oil, gas & mining, dry hole means: A well that does not find oil or gas in amounts worth producing. It is usually plugged and abandoned.

In Turkish: kuru kuyu, boş kuyu

How it is used

Also called a duster. Dry holes are a normal part of exploration risk, and companies report the dry hole costs they write off. Press releases often use softer wording such as 'did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons'.

Example sentences

  1. The second exploration well was a dry hole and has been plugged.

  2. Two dry holes in a row made the partners rethink their plans for the block.

Common collocations

  • drill a dry hole
  • dry hole cost
  • plug a dry hole
  • dry hole risk
  • explorationThe work of searching for new oil, gas or mineral deposits, using geological mapping, geophysical surveys, sampling and test drilling.
  • wellA deep, narrow hole drilled into the ground to find or produce oil, gas or water, or to inject fluids back into a reservoir.
  • strike oilTo find oil by drilling. In everyday English it also means to suddenly find something that brings great success or a lot of money.
  • seismic surveyA method of mapping rock layers underground by sending sound waves into the earth and recording the echoes that bounce back from different layers.

More terms: Exploration & Geology

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