Oil from coal was found in 1950s～1960s in China. It was suggested that oil of coal should be prospected in coal seams and coal-bearing formations in the early’s. A progress was made in organic petrology, geochemistry of oil from coal, the modeling of coal-generated hydrocarbon and synthetical investigation about geology, tectonic evolution, sedimentary phases,and so on, of coal-bearing basins. Breakthrough was made in prospects for oil from coal, oilfields derived from coal found in Xinjiang. This paper describes the cases on the investigation of oil of coal, and prospects for the investigation and prospecting of oil from coal.