study of hydrocarbon migration had been mainly concentrated in qualitative experiments
understanding of mechanism and geochemical oil-source correlation.Afterwards
it has been diversified mainly in the following 6 aspects:(1)physical simulation with small-scale model-large scale box-like model-realistic simulation; (2)fluid dynamic simulation of hydrocarbon migration-numerical simulation of predominant hydrocarbon migration; (3)study of migration mechanism-study of systems theory;(4)geochemical research of hydrocarbon migration with fluid tracing technologies;(5)study and application of grid model-invasion percolation model;(6)fluid compartment-episodic reservoiring theory.The future trends in study of hydrocarbon migration include:predominant pathways of hydrocarbon migration in carrier beds;building and application of basin-scale invasion percolation models;evaluation methods of opening and closing of faults;marker features of hydrocarbon inclusion and authigenic minerals; study three-field coupling of palaeo-fluid migration with dynamic and quantitative dynamic methods.