The importance and recent progresses on the plant-microbial remediation of petroleum contaminants and PAHs in the environment were reviewed. Large numbers of laboratory studies indicated that the joint effect of different groups of plant-microbe (such as bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes bacteria) in remediation of soil contaminants could be significant, and to some extent microbial flora perform better than a single strain. The rhizosphere formed by root of plant and microbe enhances the degradation rate of contaminants. Meanwhile, biological surfactant is superior to synthetic surfactant in ecological suitability and remediation of soil contaminated. Synchronous remediation of multicomponent pollutants is still in its initial stage, more studies needs to be done in order to understand the mechanism further. However, the technique looks promising. Some related open problems needs special care. In the process of degradation of petroleum contaminants using plant and microbial flora, it is necessary to confirm collaborative and competitive mechanism of microbial flora. The reproducibility of the experimental results needs justification. The results of the laboratory research need to be confirmed and supported by field experiments. It is necessary to find microbial flora or a single strain which can degrade contaminants at high efficiency under the extreme conditions (high salt content, lack of N and P, low temperature etc) according to different soil types and climatic characteristics. It will also be imperative to establish petroleum pollutant evaluation system for soil, the foundation of which is to identify limit of damage to environment by petroleum pollutant.