Overview:

The original creation of oil or petroleum is not well understood. There are several theories, but the matter is still one of scientific controversy. It is generally accepted however that the origin of oil begins with plant fossils, just as with coal. The study of fossils is called paleontology. The creation of oil is part of geology.

Trade Associations:

Association of Polish Geomorphologists
European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
Geological Association of Canada - national society for the geosciences.
Geological Society of America - includes earth scientists at all levels of expertise and from all sectors: academic, government, business, and industry.
--Planetary Geology Division
International Association of Mathematical Geology
Society for Sedimentary Geology
Society of Economic Geologists
Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists - for the consulting earth scientist.

Yahoo Sites:

Science: Earth Sciences: Geology and Geophysics.
Business and Economy: Companies: Scientific: Geology and Geophysics.
Science: Earth Sciences: Geology and Geophysics: Exploration Geophysics.
Computers and Internet: Software: Scientific: Geology and Geophysics.

Regulation:

Research into the creation of oil is regulated informally by peer review.

Energy Information Administration (home page)
U.S. Geological Survey (home page)

Trade periodicals:

American Geophysical Union -- Contents and Abstracts of Recent AGU Journals
Oil & Gas Journal Online From PennWell .

Other sources:

American Geological Institute - federation of 30 geoscience societies, promoting a united voice for the geoscience community and providing information and education services.
COGS - Computer Oriented Geological Society
Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network - organization dedicated to making information available to researchers, policy makers, and the general public.
Geochemical Society - a non-profit scientific society encouraging the application of chemistry to the solution of geological and cosmological problems.
Geological Society - the UK's national geological learned society and the professional body for UK scientists.
Geologische Vereinigung e.V. - non-profit international earth science organization.
Geoshare Users Group - includes detailed data transfer model definition, meeting announcements, and catalog, based in Houston, Texas.
International Union of Geological Sciences - the IUGS promotes and supports the study of geological problems of world-wide significance and facilitates international and interdisciplinary cooperation in the earth sciences.
Museum of Paleontology of the University of California at Berkeley.
National Academy of Sciences - Environment and Earth Sciences has numerous resources.
--Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources of the NAS studies atmospheric sciences and climate, oceanography, solid-earth sciences, polar research, environmental science, natural disasters, and water science.
Paleomap Foundation - to promote the understanding of Earth history, especially those processes that lead to the formation of the Earth's natural resources.
West Texas Geological Society - information on the geology and oil and gas resources of the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeast New Mexico, site of the historic Spindletop oil well.