Oil under 1 of my cities. Do I get it?

[TLF]

Oil just showed up...under one of my cities.
Do I get access to it even though I can't build an oil well?

I'm hoping it's automatic.

If not, oil also showed up on a needed farm square. I'd rather not give up the farm until I get a tech that increases food in some other way.

 

[CornPlanter]

You get it as long as you have Combustion.

 

[joanne]

Scientific Method reveals oil, but you do not get to use/trade it until combustion. After you've researched combustion though, it will instantly become online. Same goes with all other resources under cities after you've researched the techs that enable you to use them, not just the revealing tech, like hunting for ivory and fusion for uranium.

As for the other source of oil under the farm, I would seriously consider building an oil well over it - screw the farm and the puny +1/+2(with biology) it gives to one city. Oil is a strategic resource and thus is valued highly by the AI, even if they already have their own source of the strategic resource. You can get loads of /turn and other resources that would benefit your entire empire if you trade it away, which easily outweighs the +1/+2 lost from destroying the farm.

 

[Tristan_C]

In maps with precious little oil, you even bulldoze fully-matured towns to get the extra trading power. A farm is nothing.

 

[Nick Carpathia]

AIs won't trade for extra oil once they have a single source. Building on top of oil is actually a fine idea, as they're not great tiles to work (especially if they're in the desert/tundra), and the AI won't sabotage oil wells.

If anything, you want to deny the AI any oil. No oil means no metal navy nor airforce, meaning nothing can touch your destroyers or harass your stacks. I'd much rather sell the AI excess sheep or something, they'll pay a good price for non-strategic resources and that can easily leave them with nothing to trade for your oil.

 

[Ataxerxes]

AIs won't trade for extra oil once they have a single source. Building on top of oil is actually a fine idea, as they're not great tiles to work (especially if they're in the desert/tundra), and the AI won't sabotage oil wells.

If anything, you want to deny the AI any oil. No oil means no metal navy nor airforce, meaning nothing can touch your destroyers or harass your stacks. I'd much rather sell the AI excess sheep or something, they'll pay a good price for non-strategic resources and that can easily leave them with nothing to trade for your oil.

Emphasize this. If you have oil and they don't, they're yours. It's time to put them out of your misery. You got lucky with oil right under your city.

If you want to know what strategic resources are worth, try trading for them from the AI. The cost is very high. Something like Oil is game-changing, not just +2 health or happiness in cities.

 

[Esham]

I had a game with no oil. terrible end game. Had to get the corp up to get my oil

 

[kochman]

Yes, oil under a city means instant access at Combustion, and you can never lose it due to sabotage!
I wonder if you would lose it during civil disobedience in a city, like you lose the money... not sure.

As for bulldozing a farm... dude, YES. Bulldoze bulldoze bulldoze. If you have extra oil, and the AI sabotages or bombed one well, you can always just build another.
You can also build a fort on top of it, which is sturdier (cannot be bombed away from what I know).

 

[s.bernbaum]

Scientific Method reveals oil, but you do not get to use/trade it until combustion. After you've researched combustion though, it will instantly become online. Same goes with all other resources under cities after you've researched the techs that enable you to use them, not just the revealing tech, like hunting for ivory and fusion for uranium.

That's right - but one minor correction to avoid confusing any new players. Fission, not fusion, allows the use of uranium. Fusion allows the building of starship engines.

 

[joanne]

@ s.bernbaum

Oh yes thank you very much for the correction