Inside U.S. oil’s return to global wildcatting: ‘It’s like geo-porn’

In 2005, Ezra Yacob, a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, made a career-defining move when he joined Houston oil producer EOG Resources. He was captivated by the prospect of opening a new frontier in petroleum exploration, a sentiment that continues to drive him as the company's chairman and CEO. While EOG remains a dominant force in Texas and has led an oil boom in Ohio, the 20-year-old U.S. shale industry is maturing, spurring the industry's focus on international exploration once again.

This includes replicating shale drilling and fracking techniques abroad, and EOG has already brought several wells online in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with promising results. Despite the ongoing Iran war, countries like the UAE and Bahrain see potential in developing their own natural resources, and American shale experts are in high demand.

Similarly, South American, African, and even Australian countries are also seeking the help of U.S. shale experts. This shift in focus is also seen in other shale leaders such as ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, APA Corp., Murphy Oil, and Continental Resources, who are now exploring overseas opportunities. However, the U.S. industry is in a mature consolidation mode rather than in a booming growth phase, and many workers in the industry lack the experience of drilling dry holes, which Tudor, the founder and CEO of Artemis Energy Partners, believes is crucial for a successful exploration.

Meanwhile, seasoned wildcatters like Bill Armstrong, who has made big discoveries in Alaska's North Slope, are gearing up to drill new wells, fueled by the abundant and unfracked seismic geology in the region.