To enhance the degradation of oily wastewater and its biogas production, a biological-physicochemical pretreatment was introduced prior to the anaerobic digestion system. The digestion thereafter proceeded more efficiently due to the inoculation by oil degrading bacteria (Bacillus). A 2-stage pre-mixing is more effective than directly mixing. The effects on the methane production were also investigated by pre-treatment with ultrasonic (US) treatment, combined with citric acid (CA) addition. US pre-treatment was found to improve the initial methane production, and CA pre-treatment could maintain this improvement during the whole digestion stage. Pre-mixing Bacillus at 9 wt.% inoculation, combined with US for 10 min and a CA concentration of 500 mg/L provided the optimum conditions. The most effective enhancement of methane yield was 1100.46 ml/g VS, exceeding that of the control by 280%. The change of coenobium shape and fatty acid content further proved that such pretreatment of oily wastewater can facilitate digestion. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.