My grandfather was an oil wildcatter.

我的祖父是位石油勘探者。

As wildcatters rushed to the region, small refineries started popping up all over the place.

随着盲目开采油井者涌入该地区，小型炼油厂开始在各处涌现。

By the early 1860's these wildcatters were drilling for " black gold" all over western Pennsylvania.

截止到19世纪60年代早期，这些冒险者为寻找" 黑色的金子" 钻探遍了整个宾西法尼亚西部。

Oil giants such as ExxonMobil and Chevron trod more gingerly into shalelands such as the Permian basin, not least because the wildcatters' expansionary zeal earned fracking a reputation for torching billions of investors' money.

埃克森美孚和雪佛龙等石油巨头更加谨慎地涉足二叠纪盆地等页岩地，尤其是因为这些野心勃勃的扩张热情为水力压裂赢得了烧毁数十亿投资者资金的名声。