How to Extract Oil in Palworld – Requirements and Base Locations for Oil Extraction

Crude Oil is a late-game resource introduced in the Sakurajima update, and it becomes the backbone of your endgame progression. You need it to craft Plasteel, which feeds directly into late-game weapons like the Laser Rifle and Gatling Gun, alongside high-tier armor, Missile Ammo, and Flamethrower Fuel. The core extraction concept is straightforward: you build a specialized extractor directly on an oil deposit and supply it with a massive amount of electricity.

Prerequisites and build costs for the Crude Oil Extractor

How to set up your first oil extraction operation

Unlock the technology

Reach level 50 and spend 2 Technology Points to unlock the Crude Oil Extractor and Large Electric Generator.

Build a Large Power Generator

Construct the Large Electric Generator in your base, because the small generators will not output enough power.

Acquire a Level 4 power Pal

Catch a Pal with Level 4 energy generation, such as Orserk, and assign it to the generator.

Locate an oil node

Find a dark patch oil node on the map, prioritizing safe areas like the starter island.

Place the extractor

Build the Crude Oil Extractor directly on top of the oil node to begin automatic production.

Video help

Best base locations for oil extraction

The volcanic island tip at coordinates (-855, -455) fits three oil wells inside a single base footprint, but players note this area is difficult to defend against raids. Central Sakurajima also features closely clustered nodes, allowing for stacked extractors if you can handle the local wildlife.

Power the extractor with Electric Pals

Power the Crude Oil Extractor is where most players hit a wall. Standard generators are completely insufficient, making the Large Electric Generator a strict requirement. To actually run the generator, you need a Pal with Level 4 Electricity. Orserk is the key recommendation here, providing a massive difference in power output compared to lower-tier Electric Pals. You can find Orserk in the wild; if it does not spawn, simply fly away and fly back to reset the local Pals until it appears.

Alternative methods to obtain Crude Oil

If you are short on materials or haven’t hit level 50 yet, there are a few alternative ways to get your hands on Crude Oil. Defeating or capturing Kikit, Maraith, or Sootseer yields a 50% drop rate for the resource, making targeted farming a viable strategy. The level 55 Oil Rig dungeon is another excellent source, yielding 50 to 150 Crude Oil per run. The Oil Rig resets every in-game day, which takes roughly 32 minutes, allowing for repeated farming.

You can also buy Crude Oil from merchants for approximately 100 Gold and sell it back for 10 Gold, though these economy values may have been patched. Be explicitly careful not to confuse this with Pal Oil. Pal Oil, sold by the Dune Shelter desert merchant for around 300 Gold, is a completely different resource and will not work for your late-game Sakurajima tech.

Common mistakes when setting up oil extraction

The most frequent mistake is placing the Crude Oil Extractor off-node. The machine only functions when built directly on top of an active oil deposit. Players also try to power the extractor using standard generators, which simply do not provide enough electricity—you must use a Large Electric Generator. Confusing Pal Oil with Crude Oil is another trap, as only Crude Oil drives Sakurajima tech. Finally, building your base too far from the oil fields prevents you from placing extractors on the best node clusters, so always ensure your base circle fully covers the deposits.