Evapotranspiration is one of the important parameters in hydrological and meteorological studies. Under the background of global warming, it is essential to accurately estimate the potential evapotranspiration (ET0) in arid and semiarid areas where the water resources are limited and excessively explored. In this study, we used the data of main daily meteorological factors such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and sunshine duration from 4 meteorological stations to calculate the ET0 based on Penmen-Monteith equation for analyzing the spatial distribution and temporal change in the ET0 in Xinjiang Ebinur Lake oasis during 1961-2013. The Cramer mutation analysis was used for determination of the mutation point of ET0, the partial correlation analysis was conducted, and the contribution of the main climatic factors to ET0 was calculated. The results showed that: 1) the accumulative anomaly of ET0 was positive in 1960-1989 and negative in 1990-1999. The ET0 was the lowest in the 1990s and then increased since 2000. As a whole, the ET0 in the study area decreased from 1960 to 2013. The change of ET0 in the spring, summer and autumn was consistent with that of the whole year, and the change of ET0 in the winter was not obvious. The average ET0 calculated based on the whole year from 1960-2013 was 1 064 mm. The ET0 in the spring, summer, autumn and winter accounted for 29%, 52%, 16% and 3% of the total, respectively, indicating that ET0 in the spring and summer had the largest contribution to ET0; 2) the ET0 mutation was in the year of 1997 based on the whole year data, in 1999 based on the spring data, in 1996 in the summer and in 1999 in the autumn. ET0 was decreased at a rate of-2.81 mm/a from 1960 to 1996 and then increased at a rate of 3.43 mm/a since 1997 to 2013. There was no mutation in the winter; 3) the mean temperature, daily range of temperature, sunshine duration, wind speed, relative humidity and annual precipitation had different influence on the ET0. In the spring of 1960-1998, there was a high correlation between ET0 and wind speed and relative humidity. In the spring of 1999-2013, ET0 had a high correlation with mean temperature, wind speed and sunshine duration. In the summer of 1960-1995 and 1996-2013, ET0 had a high correlation with the mean temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and sunshine duration. In the autumn of 1960 to 1998, ET0 had a high correlation with the mean temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. However, after 1998, ET0 only had a high correlation with wind speed. There was a high correlation between ET0 and mean temperature, relative humidity and wind speed in the winter. According to the relative contribution of each factor to ET0, the wind speed was the main factor affecting ET0 in the study area. In the spring, ET0 was also affected by the daily range of temperature, and in the summer, autumn and winter it was also affected by the mean temperature. The results would provide valuable information for restoration of fragile ecological environment water resources allocation, agricultural irrigation and management science.