Oil.exe

Oil.exe is a text-based petroleum industry simulation set at a 1980s computer terminal. You manage an oil field and its operations, trying to finish a contract solvent. Choose a term of 20 to 100 years; each turn represents one year, and bankruptcy can end the run early.

Explore the oil field

Your field is a procedurally generated 10x10 grid of potential drilling sites, and its geology changes with each game. Scanning a plot costs money and reveals its depth, drilling cost and an estimate of its crude reserves. That estimate is not guaranteed: wells may be dry, and productive wells deplete as you pump them, so you need to explore and replace falling production.

Build the operation

You install pumps on drilled wells to extract crude each year, paying their annual maintenance costs. Refineries process crude into gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heavy oil and additives; you choose each refinery's primary output and set production targets to suit the market. You can also blend refined stock into premium gasoline and jet fuel, and expand tank capacity to avoid overflowing storage.

Trade the market

The game tracks eight commodities: crude, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heavy oil, additives, premium gasoline and jet fuel. Their prices are based on 1980s wholesale figures and fluctuate independently each year, moving through bull runs, bear slumps, booms and market crises. You decide whether to sell at current prices or hold inventory in the hope of a later rise.

Manage annual risks

Random events can disrupt operations and prices. Oil booms and recessions move market prices by large margins; labor strikes halve pump output for a year, refinery outages take plants offline, pipeline bursts destroy some stored product, and environmental fines reduce your cash. Gushers increase a well's reserves, while energy subsidies and tax rebates can provide financial relief.

Each year ends with a report of production, operating costs, events and changes to your cash. A multi-line STATUS screen tracks the company's finances from year to year.

Contract milestones

Sixteen achievements cover early milestones, expansion, wealth and different playstyles. You can work toward drilling a productive well, installing a pump, building a refinery and completing a blend, then scale up to ten pumps or multiple refineries. Other goals include passing two million dollars, reaching the ten-million-dollar Oil Baron fortune, completing a 100-year contract, earning a high score, profiting during a market crisis or finding a 150,000-barrel gusher.