Chinese Longkou oil shale (LKO) and Mongolian Huolinhe lignite (HLHC) samples were subjected to pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis in a fixed bed reactor and rapid pyrolysis equipment to investigate the processes. The results indicated that both LKO and HLHC are ideal materials for oil recovery by pyrolysis with high oil yields. The fixed bed pyrolysis showed that the synergetic effect appeared with increasing oil yield and decreasing water yield, and was varying with changing mass percentage of coal. The optimum temperature of co-pyrolysis of LKO and HLHC in the rapid pyrolysis equipment was 510 degrees C. The synergetic effect was found to exist when the oil yield increased by 9% and water yield decreased by 36%.