7 Days to Die Oil Shale: Best Farming Spots and Crafting Uses

Fuel is a finicky resource in 7 Days to Die. Vehicles are scarce, the gas tanks that survived the apocalypse are mostly empty, and siphoning fumes only stretches so far. The good news is you can manufacture your own gasoline from scratch, and oil shale is the ingredient that makes it possible. The bad news is the game does not exactly hand it to you.

This guide covers the biome worth visiting, the structures worth raiding, and what you can actually craft once your pockets start bulging with rocks.

Where Oil Shale Spawns

Forget the forest and the wasteland. Oil shale lives almost exclusively in the desert biome, and even there it concentrates around a handful of point-of-interest types. Pack water before you leave town.

Gas Stations

Desert gas stations are sparser than in other regions, but the ones that exist are reliable. Pop open jerry cans, fuel pumps, and the random barrels scattered around the lot. Yield per stop is modest, so treat them as a starter source rather than a long-term plan.

Chemistry Stations

Industrial chemistry stations hide oil shale inside lab tables and chemical barrels. The catch is that these spots attract zombies in volume. Bring something heavier than a pipe baton.

Mining Deposits

The single best farming spot. Mining deposits look like exposed mineral patches on the surface, and a pickaxe (or better, an auger) pulls out far more shale than any loot container. Threat level is also lower than at chemistry stations, which makes them ideal for long sessions.

Pro tip: if you plan to grind oil shale seriously, build a base right next to a mining deposit. Trips back to your main settlement eat real time.

Underground Veins

If surface scavenging is not enough, dig. Oil shale veins sit roughly 20 blocks below the desert floor. The downside is obvious: standing in direct desert sun while swinging a pickaxe will tank your Hydration fast. Get the Sweltering debuff and you are one bad decision away from Severely Dehydrated, which is the polite version of dying of thirst.

COC Tanks

COC tanks are an honorable mention. They appear in multiple biomes and contain oil shale, just not very much of it. Use them as filler, not as a main route.

Recipes That Use Oil Shale

The crafting list is short, but two of the entries are essential infrastructure for any mid-game base.

| Item | Materials | Workstation | |---|---|---| | Asphalt | 8x Crushed Sand, 17x Small Stone, 5x Shale | Cement Mixer | | Gas Can | 1x Oil Shale | Chemistry Station | | Oil | 1x Empty Can, 24x Oil Shale | Chemistry Station |

There is also a non-crafting use. Cooking an oil shale boulder over a campfire grants Science skill experience. Other methods opened up after the A16 update, but campfire shale is still one of the faster paths if you happen to be sitting on a pile.

That covers the geology and the chemistry. Pick a deposit, stay hydrated, and stockpile. The first time your fuel reserves stop running on fumes, the desert detours pay for themselves.