Northeast Petroleum University is located in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, the largest petroleum and petrochemical base in China. It is a national key university born with the discovery of Daqing Oilfield, the largest oil field in China. It is a university jointly established by Heilongjiang Province, China Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Corporation, China Petrochemical Group Corporation and China Offshore Oil Corporation, and it is a high-level university under key construction in Heilongjiang Province.

Northeastern Petroleum University originated from Tsinghua University Oil Refining Department, was bred in Beijing Petroleum Institute, and was born and developed in Daqing Oilfield, which is one of the important achievements of Daqing Oilfield Congress. The school's predecessor, Northeast Petroleum Institute, was founded in May 1960 and renamed Daqing Petroleum Institute 1975 in July.