ABSTRACT Taking Gonghe oil shale as raw material, the rapid pyrolysis experiment was carried out using the Py-GC/MS device under different atmospheres. The effects of different pyrolysis atmospheres on the rapid pyrolysis products of Gonghe oil shale were studied. The results show that the H2 atmosphere can not only increase the content of saturated hydrocarbons and reduce the content of unsaturated hydrocarbons but also reduce the content of oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds. This may be because more H free radicals under the H2 atmosphere are produced to react with the free radical fragments formed by kerogen decomposition. The coupling between H free radicals and free radical fragments can prevent the polymerization among macromolecular free radicals and inhibit the generation of heavy byproducts, which can promote the kerogen pyrolysis and increase the release of volatile matter. In addition, the pyrolysis atmosphere is conducive to the deoxygenation of oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds to a certain extent.