Abstract: Shale oil resources in china is abundant, but exploration and development has just started. The systematic research on the distribution and development status of shale oil resources in major countries in the world has important reference for the development of shale oil in China. This paper systematically studies the major countries producing shale oil in the world such as the United States, Canada, Russia and other countries, summarizes the resource distribution and development status of each country, and studies their technology and encouragement policies for the successful development of shale oil. Based on this analysis, through a comparison with China, the paper put forwardsome suggestions for the development of shale oil in China.