Thermogravimetric (TG) method for the preliminary selection and rapid quantitative determination of petroleum and petroleum products in contaminated soils is described and tested. The influence of the analytical conditions, the kind and the amount of the pollutant on the temperature interval of separation, the accuracy, the reproducibility and the detection minimum of the determination were studied with model samples based on both the inert and soil carriers. The results led to the conclusion that the dynamic thermogravimetry method offered significant advantages for the selection and the direct quantitative determination of petroleum and petroleum products with concentrations exceeding 10 g/kg. The corresponding analytical errors were found to be smaller or, at least, commensurable with those of the methods developed so far.