well drilling

well drilling (uncountable)

1. The process of boring a hole deep into the ground for the purpose of extracting a natural resource, such as groundwater, brine, natural gas or crude oil.
   • 1964 May, R. K. Evans, “The Ventura—Paxman's high-speed engine”, in Modern Railways, page 328:

     After the war, the invaluable experience gained with mass production of the TP engines saw Davey Paxman in a favourable position to supply such units almost "off the shelf", a facility found to be of great value by oil companies engaged in well-drilling; [...].

• “well drilling”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.