The other day. The car wouldn’t start. It seemed like maybe it flooded and the plugs had gotten fowled. I pulled out the #1 plug expecting to see it coated with carbon, but instead, it looked like it was soaking in a vat of oil.

I only drive it maybe 150 miles a week and it often sits unused for 3 or 4 days at a time. That’s how it’s been for the past three months. Before that, it was unused for the better part of three years and has about 105K miles total.

I noticed when I took it out, that even the socket had oil on it, which tells me the oil cane from above the cylinder.

What are the possible causes?
Thanks in advance.

 

I can see that oil is all over the threads of the spark plug but it doesn't appear to be on the actual tip. Oil fouling on a spark plug will usually cause a build up of black sludge on the ground electrode and on the insulator.
To me it looks like the oil is simply from a leaking valve cover gasket.
What I do see is that the plugs electrodes appear to be severely worn although it could just be the angle of view.
As an aside it's a good idea to brush or blow away any debris around the spark plug holes before removing them. Otherwise trash can get blown or knocked down into the cylinder potentially causing permanent damage.

 

Agree with jamnar on the valve cover gasket. Pull each of the plug wires and shine a light down towards the plug. A leaking valve cover gasket that is leaking by the spark plugs will cause a small puddle of oil to build up in the well where the spark plug sits.

Do not try to tighten the valve cover bolts. It will make it leak worse.
Is it firing while you are cranking or if the engine just rotating?
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I would start with a simple spark test to ensure you have spark at all four plugs.

You can also test each coil of which there are two by removing all of the plug wires and cranking the engine. You should see an arc between the terminals of each coil Tower alternating from one coil to the other.
Also, on a completely cold engine, turn the key to on but do not crank. Listen for the hum of the fuel pump priming the system for about 3 seconds. You should then hear at the fuel pump relay click off near the center console. The hum is faint or loud, varies in every Saturn S car I've driven. Sometimes if I try to repeat this test I have to remove the key, count to five and put it back in, presumably because it is already at the desired pressure and some has to bleed off so if you try it twice in a row it may not prime the second time.
Post back and we will take it from there.

Any codes?