Hydrophobic associating polymer plays an important role in polymer flooding，profile control and water plugging for its fine salt resistance and shear resistance，however，there is the problem of adaptation with reservoir heterogeneity at the same time.In the paper，using reservoir characteristics and fluid properties of Bohai as studying platform，the compatibility between hydrophobic associating polymer AP-P4 and reservoir pore throat was confirmed，and then the adaptation between AP-P4 and reservoir heterogeneity was studied through analyzing the influence of polymer concentration changes on flow rate of small layers and displacement efficiency in parallel linear cores（the permeability was 4，1.5，0.5 μm²，respectively）. The results showed that as the concentration of AP-P4 increased，the viscosity and molecular coil dimension of AP-P4 solution increased，the resistance factor and residual resistance factor also increased under similar permeability. When concentrations of AP-P4 was 1500 mg/L，1750 mg/L and 2000 mg/L，respectively，the corresponding permeability limits was 1150 × 10^-3 μm²、1500 × 10^-3 μm² and 1780 × 10^-3 μm²，respectively. The change of polymer concentration affected not only the time of profile inversion but also the displacement ability of polymer in all small layers. When polymer concentration ranged in 1500—2000 mg/L，with the concentration increasing，the adaptation between hydrophobic associating polymer and reservoir heterogeneity got worse，the affected area of medium and low permeability layer got smaller and profile inversion time moved up，and the oil recovery firstly increased then decreased.Displacement efficiency reached the best at the concentration of 1750 mg/L，indicating that the adaptation between hydrophobic associating polymer and reservoir heterogeneity is very important to oil recovery.