If you’ve hit a wall trying to build high-tier gear, refineries, or even fuel for your flying Pals, you’ve probably realized oil is one of the most non-negotiable mid-game resources in Palworld. I struggled for hours when I first started, running around random biomes hoping to stumble on oil deposits instead of prioritizing the right spots and methods. This guide breaks down exactly how to get oil in Palworld, no wasted time or unnecessary detours required.
How to Get Oil in Palworld Before You Unlock High-Tier Pals
You don’t have to wait until you reach level 20 or catch rare mining Pals to start stockpiling oil. The easiest early-game spots are small surface oil seeps scattered along the shoreline southwest of the Rayne Syndicate Tower, in the low-level coastal area between the Verdant Brook and Windswept Hills fast travel points. You don’t need a metal pickaxe to harvest these surface oil seeps, even a basic stone pickaxe will work as long as you’re at least level 10.
Each seep only drops 2-3 oil per harvest, but they respawn every 7 in-game minutes, so you can loop 4-5 seeps in 10 real-world minutes to get 40+ oil per run. I first found these spots by accident when I was running away from a level 30 Grizzbolt, so I can confirm they’re super easy to access even if you’re still underleveled for the surrounding areas. Avoid the higher level Fire Pals roaming the inland edge of this area, stick to the shore where only level 12-15 Foxparks spawn, and you’ll be able to farm without taking any damage.
Use Oil-Producing Pals for Passive, Zero-Effort Farming
Once you hit level 15 and unlock the ranch building, you can stop running around for oil entirely by using Pals that produce the resource passively. Relaxaurus and Relaxaurus Lux produce oil automatically when kept at a ranch, no extra input or crafting stations required. Each ranch can hold up to 4 Relaxaurus, and will produce 15-20 oil per in-game hour as long as you keep their feed box stocked with red berries. Relaxaurus spawn along the northern shore of the Verdant Brook area, and are level 20-25, so you can catch them as soon as you have a stock of rare Pal Spheres.
If you prefer active farming over passive base production, you can also hunt Pals that drop oil when defeated, to stack two goals into one run. The top 3 Pals for oil production are:
- Relaxaurus: The best passive oil producer for mid-game, low maintenance, and can also be used as a fast water mount if you need one.
- Killamari: Drops 3-5 oil per kill, perfect for active farming if you’re already grinding for experience in the coastal biomes.
- Mammorest Cryst: Produces higher volumes of oil at ranches once you reach late game, but requires a larger base and higher tier feed to keep happy.
That means you can mix active and passive farming to keep your stock high even when you’re off exploring other biomes or taking on boss towers. Just make sure you check on your ranches every few in-game days to refill feed and clear out stored oil, or your Pals will stop producing until you empty the storage chest.
Efficient Late-Game Oil Farming for Large-Scale Crafting
Once you get to the late game and need hundreds of oil for heat shields, explosive ammo, and fuel for your fast travel mounts, the small shoreline seeps and passive ranch production won’t be enough to keep up with demand. At that point, you’ll want to head to the Dunes of Despair desert biome, where large, high-yield oil deposits spawn in dense clusters. The central area of the Dunes of Despair has 12+ large oil deposits clustered within a 200 meter radius, making it the most productive farming spot in the entire game.
These large deposits require a metal pickaxe to harvest, but you can speed up the process drastically by bringing a level 30+ Digtoise with you, which can mine an entire deposit in 10 seconds flat. Each deposit gives 15-20 oil, so you can clear the entire cluster in 10 minutes to get 200+ oil per run. You can even set up a small outpost with a Palbox near the cluster to fast travel back and forth, so you don’t have to run across the entire map every time you need to restock.
Just don’t head to this spot until you have a team of level 35+ Pals to defend yourself. The desert is full of high-level aggressive Pals like Anubis and Suzaku, which will one-shot low-level players before they can even get close to an oil deposit. If you don’t have a strong enough team yet, stick to the shoreline seeps and ranch production until you’re ready to take on the desert challenges.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Oil
Even if you’re using the right farming spots, it’s easy to waste time and resources if you’re making simple avoidable mistakes. First, don’t waste your early oil stock on low-tier crafting items like torches or basic fuel, save it for refineries and metal ingot production first, those will give you way more long-term value. Second, don’t forget to assign a Pal with the Watering work trait to your oil processing stations, they’ll work 30% faster than Pals without the trait, so you can turn raw oil into usable products much quicker.
Another common mistake is storing all your oil in a single storage chest. If your base gets raided by a high-level boss or hostile Pal group, you could lose your entire stock in seconds, so spread it across 2-3 separate chests in different parts of your base to reduce risk. Never use regular Spheres to catch Relaxaurus, you’ll waste 5+ spheres per catch and end up losing more resources than you gain. I made that mistake when I first found a Relaxaurus spawn, wasted 6 common spheres and still didn’t catch it, so save your rare Spheres for these Pals, they’re worth the investment.
At the end of the day, there’s no single right way to farm oil, you can pick the method that fits your playstyle, whether you prefer running around mining deposits or letting your Pals do all the work for you. Once you know how to get oil in Palworld, you’ll be able to unlock all the high-tier crafting recipes, build better bases, and take on the toughest endgame bosses without running out of supplies halfway through. If you’re still struggling, start with the early-game shoreline seeps first, they’re low risk and give you enough oil to get to the mid-game where passive farming becomes an option.