Anthracene oil has been used as raw material for the production of carbon precursors via conventional and microwave technologies. Cokes with comparable characteristics have been obtained, suggesting that their structural order is primarily reliant on the precursor rather the heating method. However, microwave route is a more energy efficient process, achieving electricity savings of up to 60%. Furthermore, graphites produced from microwave-derived precursors show an excellent graphitization degree, which makes them appropriate starting resources for the synthesis of graphene-like materials with similar characteristics to those obtained from conventional means. Therefore, microwave-assisted heating approach appears to be a suitable and energy saving alternative for the production of carbon precursors. Authors would like to extend their gratitude to the European Union's Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) research programme for the received funding under the grant agreement RFCR-CT-2015-00006. Peer reviewed