Petroleum asphalt based ultrathin hollow carbon shell (PACS) was prepared via a facile template-assisted method. As the anode material of lithium-ion batteries, PACS exhibits high reversible capacity, excellent cycling stability, and superior rate performance. A high reversible capacity of 334mAhg-1 and 90% kept of the theoretical capacity can still be maintained in PACS at a current density of 1Ag-1 even after 1000 cycles, which is ascribed to the unique hollow structure, ultrathin porous shells (4.7nm), the doped nitrogen atoms, and high level of disorder degree. Meanwhile, the present study paves a milestone for the high-valued utilization of petroleum asphalt and other kinds of heavy oil.