Was it a scarce resource? Did it have a lot of use pre-1800s?
I think this answer depends on location.
For example, Brantly (2007) notes that "the Japanese have been familiar with the use of petroleum oil for illumination and other purposes for many centuries". He also claims that the Japanese were the first to dig deep wells for oil, circa 600 AD. He cites primary source material that reveals "the difficulties of such an operation would have been insurmountable". Brantly also notes that oil drilling was popular in Burma, China and Trinidad before the 1800s.
Therefore we could deduce that oil was a valuable resource in Japan before the industrial revolution due to the effort dedicated to extracting it.
Source: Brantly, JE 2007, History of Oil Well Drilling, Gulf Publishing, London.
hi! you'll find some comments on early usage, if not value, in the FAQ - see under Petroleum: