As conventional oil reservoirs enter the“double high”stage of high production and high water content，the availability of remaining reserves decreases and then the difficulty of stable oil production increases. To tap the remaining oil in reservoir for a long time，it is necessary to strengthen the characterization and understanding of the distribution of remaining oil. By combing the core analysis，one-dimensional core oil repulsion and microscopic oil repulsion experiments carried out at home and abroad for different reservoirs，and combining the techniques of laser confocal，nuclear magnetic resonance imaging，CT scanning imaging and fluorescence analysis，this article comprehensively summarized the research methods on the distribution of one- to threedimensional microscopic residual oils from qualitative to quantitative. The results showed that the oil-bearing thin section analysis was the basic experimental method to study the distribution of residual oil with high retention of the residual oil distribution state， which could truly reflect the characteristics of residual oil and was mature. The traditional core driving model was an indispensable experimental method for the study of the residual oil distribution law and the mechanism of improving recovery，which was the most reflective of the real reservoir situation. But it could only analyze the influence of different factors on the permeability effect from the macroscopic point of view. The real core visualisation model could effectively make up for the shortcomings of traditional core oil repulsion model. But the visualisation experimental device had limited resistance to high temperature and high pressure. Meanwhile，the production cost was high，and the image processing was not very clear. Microfluidic control model，as an emerging technology，had controllable parameters and high experimental reproducibility. At the same time，it could display the microdrive process and the flow of fluids visually under various oil repulsion modes，which could provide a new way of evaluating the effect of oil repulsion. However，there was still a certain gap between the simplified microscopic porous model and the results of actual displacement experiments. The imaging analysis technology mainly based on nuclear magnetic resonance imaging technology and X-ray CT imaging technology，with their respective advantages，combined with the real core experiments，had become an important means of effectively describing the characteristics of residual oil distribution from a microscopic perspective. This review provided important references for researchers to understand the existing research methods for remaining oil，and then provided theoretical support for the study of remaining oil distribution，efficient development，and improved oil recovery in different types of reservoirs.