A permit....a lease....a plot of land. Whatever you want to call it.It's not that simple. First of all.....they have to find out if the permit will produce oil.
You idiot. If an area won't produce oil, companies won't apply for a permit.
But you have to have a permit to set seismic charges. They need to know if it's worth drilling....and the best way to find out is set charges and see if there's big enough deposit in the ground to make it worthwhile.