Hi, hopefully someone will drop by to answer in depth, but meanwhile you may be interested in a few earlier posts
On discovery, including mentions of early uses (this subject would be worth x-posting to /r/AskAnthropology)
Were ancient and classical civilizations aware of the modern resources they built their cities on? featuring /u/Prufrock451
answer in When were the oil reserves in the Arabian peninsula first discovered? Who were the major figures in exploiting them, and how was the infrastructure for the oil economy of the gulf oil states built up? by /u/asdjk482
What was oil used for before the Industrial Revolution? How did they find it?
What did people think of the "black sludge [that] seeped out of the ground... around Baghdad, or gas fires flared off swamps in Mosul" prior to the development of petrol? featuring /u/AshkenazeeYankee
a mention in How mineral rich was Europe before the Bronze Age?
How valuable was oil before the industrial revolution? an example from Japan by /u/Ender1987
Modern use