Appreciated by the economists, criticized by sociologists, in the name of physical and moral protection of environment, the oil, also called „the black gold” for its qualities, has dominated the economies and the civilization of the world until nowadays.

Formed under the earth’s crust or on the bottom of the seas, it has mobilized so many energies for centuries and revolutionized the techniques of processing and transport, constituting a remarkable wealth of many states and finally winning the competition with coal.

In Romania, the exploitation of oil has a long history. The first attestation dates from the second century and it`s mentioned in the archaeological discoveries in Sucidava, Tomis, Histria and Targsorul Vechi, continuing during the following centuries. Until the second half of the XIX-th century, the use of oil was restricted to lubricate the wheels of the wagons, to empirical treatment of the animals` diseases and sometimes even for human illness. The writings of the scholar Dimitrie Cantemir and of the prince Alexandru Sutu give proof of that.

The development of product progresses slowly until 1857, when a boom of oil exploitation was held in Romania.

In the paper the premises of the oil technology and extraction industry development in Romania are analysed, and the changes produced at the beginning of the 20-th century, when Romania’s oil production registers spectacular increase comparing to the memorable year 1857, so that in the year 1900, the volume of the extracted crude oil represent 1,22 % of the world production. First professional schools are developed and the socio-cultural life was strongly changed.

Authors analyse also the period of industrialization in Romania, with a great impact on oil extraction took place.