In Small County, the mineral rights are owned by farmers under whose land the oil may be located, so that oil companies must negotiate a lease with the landowner before drilling on a prospect. A borehole drilled in search of new production is a "wildcat". If the wildcat discovers oil in commercial quantities, it will be completed as a production well. Part of the income from the sale of oil produced will be paid to the landowner as a royalty. A permit to drill is filed with the State to request permission to drill. When a new field is found by the discovery well, additional development wells may be drilled to drain the reservoir efficiently and economically. Production may come from one or several formations in the same well. Each well is identified first by the name of the oil production company, then the name of the landowner, the well identification number, and the geographic location, expressed as section, township, and range. So, a well named Thunderbird Smith 2 T11S R12W S13 SE was drilled for the Thunderbird Company as the second well on the land owned by Smith, and located in the southeast corner of section 13 of Township 11 south, Range 12 West. (More information on legal coordinates is available here.)
The current version of the Small County exercise is a little unrealistic, in that you are free to drill new wells wherever you please, except where other wells have already been drilled or where access is limited due to natural (streams, lakes) or cultural (towns, roads) features.