I was surprised to find out that kbertsche accepts that YECs can find oil with just the basic idea of relative dating and knowledge of the morphology of the rocks.
I'm not a geologist. But yes, that seems possible.
But what you would lose, would be the ability to make sensible inferences about the age of strata and what that implies about the likelihood of finding oil. So while I expect it could work, a YEC would have a serious handicap compared to an OEC.
In any case, I'm glad you are looking into this. I hope you will be honest with yourself as you do so. I was an OEC Christian, before I gave it up. It doesn't really require compromising any important theology, though you probably see that differently.
I won't be pressuring you to change. But I do hope you will spend the effort to fully examine OEC.
Fundamentalism - the anti-American, anti-Christian branch of American Christianity