OIL, IT'S DOWN THERE DRY HOLE OR NOT. In the Landman series Cooper hits it big by drilling deeper in existing oil wells that were designated as a dry hole, is this a real deal in the real oil man's world? Yes, this is absolutely a real-world practice. In the oil and gas industry the process is known as well re-entry or deepening by drilling down past the existing 2,000 to 4,000 feet or so. The core strategy of taking over old, shallow "dry holes" and drilling deeper to find untouched oil reservoirs is a classic, time-tested strategy used by independent oilmen and wildcatters. In the energy industry, a "dry hole" (or "duster") does not necessarily mean the ground has zero oil.  Legally and commercially, a well is classified as a dry hole if it is incapable of producing oil or gas in sufficient quantities to justify the high cost of completing it at that specific depth, at that specific time. Many wells drilled decades ago, like in the 1920's an...