The world's first systematic petroleum refinery was built in Ploiești, Romania in 1856 using the abundant oil available in Romania.

When was the first crude oil refined?

The refining of crude petroleum owes its origin to the successful drilling of the first oil wells in Ontario, Canada, in 1858 and in Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1859.

When did we start harvesting oil?

The kerosene lamp, invented in 1854, ultimately created the first large-scale demand for petroleum. (Kerosene first was made from coal, but by the late 1880s most was derived from crude oil.) In 1859, at Titusville, Penn., Col. Edwin Drake drilled the first successful well through rock and produced crude oil.