The invention relates to the field of petroleum pipeline maintenance, in particular to a petroleum pipeline maintenance method. The method comprises the following steps that petroleum in a petroleum pipeline is emptied; a maintenance unmanned aerial vehicle is put into the petroleum pipeline; a camera and a marking mechanism used for marking leakage points are carried by the unmanned aerial vehicle; an examiner observes the interior of the petroleum pipeline according to the camera, when the examiner finds a leakage point, the examiner controls the marking mechanism to eject paint to the leakage point to mark the leakage point, and therefore the examiner can observe the leakage point from the outside; after maintenance is completed, the examiner holds an ultraviolet light emitter by hand to search for the marked leakage points along the petroleum pipeline; the examiner marks the leakage points from the outside; and then a maintainer maintains the leakage points according to marks of the examiner. According to the petroleum pipeline maintenance method, the petroleum pipeline is maintained through the interior of the petroleum pipeline, interference of the external environment to themaintenance work can be avoided, and the maintenance efficiency is greatly improved.