Three crews of roughnecks in West Texas are off and running in search for oil, but each hit a disaster on their first day. Although the Viking rig is state-of-the-art, the crew is having trouble in getting started. The smallest of the roughnecks on the tried-and-true Longhorn rig, suffers a crushing injury by a piece of equipment. Will one crew leader not survive the end of the first week?

Longhorn driller Gerald explodes when a no-show put the crews lead in jeopardy. Then, Wayne and the Viking crew come from last to a tie with the Longhorn by working around the clock. Finally, Justin faces 'The Well from Hell' when he takes over the Big Dog rig, causing him to face his biggest challenge yet.

A crisis forces Gerald's Longhorn crew to pull their pipe out of the ground just as the crew is about to hit pay dirt. One roughneck on the Viking rig may be down and out. Driller Justin tries to show his rookie Derek the ropes on the Big Dog, but the good times won't last long.

Justin loses his patience with rookie Derek, planting the seeds for an showdown at the Big Dog driller. Wayne and the Viking crew may have a devastating problem with a discovery of a tiny substance. Lastly, Gerald toughens up on his Longhorn team, but a serious injury to a roughneck may cause a tougher problem.

The fury of the oilfields has driller Wayne helpless as his crew is taken down by injuries. Then, driller Justin's job is on the line when the powerful Big Dog rig is ground to a halt. No nonsense driller Gerald is pushing his crew beyond the breaking point on the Longhorn. Will this outburst cost him?

The race to strike oil has the crews under pressure. The last place team, the Big Dog rig finishes with one hole and heads off to the next, but tensions arise once again between Derek and Justin, threatening any progress they may make. The Viking crew has hit pay dirt on the number two hole, and an inexperienced driller puts the whole Longhorn team in danger when a new crew takes over.

Last place driller Justin is reaching his boiling point as he continues training Derek, a difficult rookie using long-burning fuses which are a threat to explode in the oilfields. Then, the Longhorn rig must deal with a poisonous gas leak with a young, inexperienced crew. Wayne and his crew face a crisis which could destroy the oilfield for the high tech Viking rig, just as things start going good for the crew.

The final episode of season 1 finds the teams filled with tension as Justin, Big Dog's driller, and rookie Derek comes to blows and only one man remains standing. The Longhorn rig discovers what happens when a young driller and his crew are reckless. Plus, Wayne and his hard working Viking crew make an unexpected discovery, can this become a fortune?