1.   Both houses overwhelmingly endorsed a bid by Conoco to drill an exploratory well in the monument, which environmentalists say would undermine the purpose of the monument.

2.   A drilling crew has been sinking exploratory wells throughout the area, but so far it has had little luck.

3.   Companies now drill fewer exploratory wells, which means that they need fewer people.

4.   Cophil plugged and abandoned an exploratory well in Manila Bay this week after failing to find commercial quantities of natural gas.

5.   Exploratory Arctic wells are now drilled mainly from pads built of ice, top.

6.   Foy said Fish and Game had agreed to pay for the exploratory wells, but he was unaware of any other arrangements between the agency and Portola.

7.   Informed of the potential gusher, Queen Elizabeth II gave permission to a Canadian company to drill an exploratory well.

8.   The Bureau of Land Management recently gave Conoco a permit to drill an exploratory well here.

9.   The company said at the time that two rigs used to drill the discovery wells would continue to drill exploratory wells in the area.

10.   The company plans to drill two more exploratory wells in the Gulf of Thailand exploration area this year, he said.