Just out of curiosity, what part of the world are these puddles in? Assuming that all technology won't be disappearing anytime soon, it's probably safe to share ;)
They're in the US. One is actually well known, but it looks like no one thinks of it that way, at least for now.
Ooo, ooo are you talking about the La Brea tar pits?
ANWR? That's a cold place to be without clothes.
(1) I doubt that ANWR has ground-level oil because I think that the Inuit would have exploited it.
(2) The Inuit know, or at least knew, how to survive in that area without significant tech. If "all the tech disappears" happens in winter and they wake up naked and outside (with no inside available), they don't wake up. If it's summer, they can cope.
Hmm. I know where to find some of said black puddles.
While there are reasons why they're not being exploited today, I guess that makes me pretty valuable when all the tech goes away, at least until someone figures out that we need metal to deal with said "puddles".