shooting" oil wells; breaking up the oil-retaining rock formations in oil wells by blasting them with nitroglycerine. The person who performs this function is known as a "shooter.""shooting" oil wells; breaking up the oil-retaining rock formations in oil wells by blasting them with nitroglycerine. The person who performs this function is known as a "shooter." And you'll see people that work in oil well districts blowing out oil wells and so forth Theyre always walking around with a pint flask of nitroglycerin GLOSSARY in their hip pocket. -ARC Breaks and the Comm Cycle (24 July 63)a reference to a method of breaking up oil-retaining rock formations in an oil well by blasting or exploding it with nitroglycerin (a highly volatile, poisonous explosive liquid).