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This article sheds light on the arrival of petroleum in France, and more specifically in the Côte-d’Or department. While the first barrels were imported in 1861 to the Normandy coast, the earliest trace of a petroleum depot in this rural department surrounding the city of Dijon did not appear until 1877. By 1939 there were approximately 960 of them. This growth, driven by the use of lamp oil and especially by demand for fuel in connection with the rise of the automobile, is one example of “petrolisation,” which although undeniable was nonetheless contested. The conflicts surrounding requests for such installations document a social and environmental history of petroleum, which can be written from the viewpoint of local actors (residents and vendors), in contact with oil companies and the State.