Jordan, 52, said the well will stretch 8,500 feet (2,591 metres) under his house and swimming pool and below the adjacent Calcasieu River.

He hopes to strike oil in about 10 days on a prospect that wouldn't have been worth drilling when prices were lower, he said.

"I'm not trying to prove anything," Jordan said in a telephone interview. "I'm trying to make money."

The Independent Petroleum Association of America, which Jordan belongs to, is publicizing the project.

Jordan argued Americans should permit more U.S. oil drilling to achieve energy independence. They fight it "and then try to blame U.S. oil companies for the price of energy being so high," he said.

Oil closed at $67.50 a barrel on the futures market Wednesday.

Jordan acknowledged his homestead isn't like most. The 8,000-square-foot house sits on a 63-acre (25.50-hectare) lot that accommodates a trucking operation and an oil barge terminal on the river.

The drilling rig, 200 yards (meters) from his front door, will drill for what Jordan hopes will be 200,000 to 300,000 barrels of Light Louisiana Sweet and maybe some natural gas.

It will cost about $2 million to drill the well, but he hopes to earn profits several times that.

It's not a sure thing, he said, recalling a $900,000 "dry hole" he drilled not far away. It yielded only 130 barrels before petering out. Still, it's worth a try, he said.

"It's good for everyone to try to recoup these small - I'm not going to say marginal - reserves," he said.