This paper is the result of oil and gas exploration engineering.

Objective In China, shale oil resources are abundant and developing rapidly, but there are still key issues such as low exploration rate, high extraction difficulty, and low production. Therefore, it is necessary to analysis the progress and situation of the exploration and development of continental shale oil, and suggestions for the development of shale oil are put forward to serve the national energy security.

Methods By combing the development history of shale oil at home and abroad, this paper analyzes the direction and field of the major breakthrough and important progress of continental shale oil exploration and development in recent years, and summarizes the growth points of shale oil reservest.

Results Eight major developments were made, mainly including the Ordos Basin proved the first one billion ton shale oil field in China, the estimated new shale oil reserves in Gulong Sag of Songliao Basin are 1.268 billion tons, a number of exploratory Wells in the Paleogene in Bohai Bay Basin have been tested to produce high industrial oil flow and the Jimsar shale oil third-level geological reserves of 500 million tons in Junggar Basin, which form the shale oil enrichment theory and exploration and development technology with Chinese characteristics. By the end of 2021, China had proven geological reserves of 1.22 billion tons of shale oil, with 27.106 million tons of unproven geological resources, representing a discovery rate of 4.3 percent and huge exploration potential. Eight large and medium-sized oil and gas basins have made major breakthroughs in the investigation and exploration of multiple layers of shale oil, which shows the broad development prospect of continental shale oil in China.

Conclusions Ordos Basin, Bohai Bay, Songliao Basin, Junggar Basin, Sichuan Basin and Jianghan Basin are the main areas for shale oil exploration and development in the future and is expected to become a realistic replacement field for oil and gas during the 14th Five-Year Plan. The Paleogene formation in Bonan area of Jiyang depression in Bohai Bay basin, the Triassic formation in Longdong and Yishan slopes of Ordos basin, the Cretaceous formation in Gulong sag of Songliao basin, the Permian formation in Jimusar sag of the Junggar Basin, the Jurassic formation in eastern Sichuan basin, and the Paleogene formation in Qianjiang sag of Jianghan basin are favorable target areas for increasing reserves and increasing production. The dynamic evaluation of shale oil resource potential in large basins, research on shale oil theory and exploration and development technologies with different maturities, and investigation and evaluation of shale oil in small and medium-sized basins are the key directions for the next development of continental shale oil in China.