Final answer:
To calculate the probability that only one of three companies will discover oil, we need individual success probabilities, which are not given. If these probabilities were provided, or if we assume they match the average percentages, we could use the binomial probability formula to find the answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question posed asks about the probability that only one of the three companies will discover oil in a certain area. To solve this, let's use the information provided about the challenges of finding oil. Since the chances of any drilling spot yielding oil is 0.01%, and the success of exploratory wells in known oil fields is about 10%, we can establish that finding oil is a rare event. However, to provide a precise answer, we require additional data such as the independent success probability for each of the three companies, which hasn't been specified in the provided information. Therefore, we’d need to know these individual probabilities, or at the very least, assume they are equal to the provided average percentages to make a meaningful calculation. Assuming each company has an independent and identical probability of success, we can use the binomial probability formula to determine the probability of exactly one company striking oil.