Oil–water emulsions are commonly encountered at various stages of petroleum production. For example, the alkaline–surfactant–polymer flooding is extensively used to promote emulsion formation and thus enhance oil recovery. However, the chemicals (e.g., polymers and surfactants) involved in this process can also stabilize the produced emulsions to adversely affect the subsequent processes of oil field surface systems. Therefore, a deep understanding of oil–water emulsions formation and stabilization is required to guarantee and promote oil field production. This work summarizes the current knowledge on (1) the formation of oil–water emulsions, (2) the influence of crude oil components (e.g., asphaltenes and resins), and (3) the above-mentioned water phase components on emulsions stability on a macroscopic scale. Moreover, considering the importance of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation for revealing interphase interactions and its advantages of microstructure characterization, we also probe the mechanism of such simulations, discuss the obtained results, and reveal progress in the elucidation of the mechanism of oil–water interface stabilization. MD simulation is shown to shed light on oil–water emulsification and demulsification processes and is concluded to be well suited for exploring molecular adsorption, droplet coalescence, and droplet separation on a microscale. However, future researchers should aim to circumvent the limitations of model simplification and single-factor simulation, integrate the characteristics of internal and external phase components, and consider external factors like temperature and pressure to comprehensively analyze crude oil emulsification and demulsification behavior. Furthermore, the potential role of bubbles on produced emulsion structure should be considered in future simulations.

油水乳液通常在石油生产的各个阶段遇到。例如，碱性-表面活性剂-聚合物驱被广泛用于促进乳液形成，从而提高采油率。但是，该过程中涉及的化学物质（例如聚合物和表面活性剂）也可以稳定生产的乳液，从而对油田地面系统的后续过程产生不利影响。因此，需要对油水乳状液的形成和稳定有深刻的了解，以保证和促进油田的生产。这项工作总结了有关以下方面的当前知识：（1）油水乳液的形成；（2）原油组分（例如沥青质和树脂）的影响；（3）上述水相组分对乳液稳定性的影响。宏观尺度。此外，考虑到分子动力学（MD）模拟对于揭示相间相互作用的重要性及其微结构表征的优势，我们还探讨了这种模拟的机理，讨论了获得的结果，并揭示了油水界面稳定机理的阐明进展。MD模拟显示出了油水乳化和反乳化过程的亮点，并得出结论非常适合于在微尺度上探索分子吸附，液滴聚结和液滴分离。但是，未来的研究人员应着眼于规避模型简化和单因素模拟的局限性，整合内外相成分的特性，并考虑温度和压力等外部因素，以全面分析原油的乳化和破乳行为。此外，在未来的模拟中应考虑气泡对产生的乳液结构的潜在作用。