Curious as to what that black stuff is in ARK's ocean?
Wondering how to get yourself some oil and start powering your base?
We've got you covered!
Keep reading to find out where to harvest oil and what to use it for.
How To Get Oil
Oil can be found when exploring or you can farm it.
If you're starting out in ARK you'll want to keep an eye out for it as much as possible.
You can use a Stone or Metal Pickaxe to mine it in the ocean.
The easiest way to spot oil is by looking for a black residue rising to the surface of the water.
It's recommended to get yourself an underwater creature when mining oil as you'll be able to harvest a lot more.
The Dunkleosteus can actually gather oil by itself, so it might be worth taming one.
You'll find oil in abundance inside underwater caves, though these are rare so be sure to mark it on your map if you come across one.
Dung Beetles can also passively farm oil, it's worth getting a group of them together for unlimited oil and fertilizer.
There are also certain underwater caves that can be mined for oil. Find and tame an underwater dinosaur to give efficient access to the caves. Caves are rare and often contain very large amounts of oil all in one place.
The Tusoteuthis and Basilosaurus both have oil in their inventory, so get hunting!
Crafting With Oil
Oil is extremely important in crafting, especially when it comes to Gasoline.
Gasoline will be required to run a number of machines in your base such as the Fabricator, Electrical Generator, Industrial Grill, Chainsaw, Motorboat, Mining Drill, and Industrial Forge.
So, it's essential that you get oil as early on as possible.
Oil is needed to craft the following tools:
- Absorbent Substrate
- Grenade
- Homing Underwater Mine
- Industrial Cooker
- Industrial Forge
- Industrial Grill
- Industrial Grinder
- Fabricator
- Propellant
- Re-Fertilizer
- Silencer Attachment
- Soap
- Spray Painter
- Tripwire Alarm Trap
- Vault