Compared with traditional hydrogels, self-healing hydrogels have excellent self-healing properties and biocompatibility. They are ideal materials in the fields of biology, medicine and materials, and have important research significance. In recent years, as a new type of profile control and water plugging material, self-healing gels have also been widely studied in the field of petroleum engineering. These hydrogels can completely restore their structure and properties by forming new crosslinking networks after being damaged, showing superior mechanical properties and stability compared to traditional hydrogels. However, there is still a lack of systematic summarization and understanding of their self-healing performance. Therefore, this paper introduces the mechanism of self-healing gel, summarizes the types of self-healing gel applied in the field of oil and gas development, focuses on the evaluation methods of self-healing performance of self-healing gel at different stages, and analyzes the factors affecting self-healing performance, so as to provide design ideas and references for future research. At the same time, the application prospect of self-healing gel in oil and gas development is prospected.