Desulfurization is an important process for crude oil upgrading. Electrochemical desulfurization technologies have advantages over conventional hydrodesulfurization technologies in terms of low temperature and pressure operation with high product selectivity and therefore less energy consumption. In this paper the authors reviewed the research done in the past decades on electrochemical desulfurization for fossil fuels. The principles, electrochemical methods, electrochemical reactors, catalysts and electrolytes employed in the electrochemical desulfurization process were discussed: and future research work is recommended. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.