Oil Well

The age of petroleum began with Edwin Drake's 1859 well at Titusville, Pennsylvania — crude oil struck at twenty-one meters, modest by later standards but enough to ignite an industry that would reshape geopolitics for a century and a half. The oil well extracts petroleum from subsurface deposits through steam-powered drilling, bringing to the surface a raw material refined into kerosene, lubricants, and the fuels that power the internal combustion engine. In the game the oil well is the gateway resource building for the petroleum economy — it produces oil consumed by vehicle depots, tank factories, and arms factories at escalating rates. Establish production before building mechanized units; a tank factory without oil stalls your offensive before it begins. Protect wells with garrison troops — they rank among the highest-priority raid targets any enemy will select.