The formation and distribution of oil and gas pools in the Tarim Basin is complicated and controlled by many factors.The distribution of source rocks and their thermal evolution determines the plane distribution of oil and gas fields

while excellent regional seals and reservoir-cap rock combination control the vertical distribution of oil and gas.Large and stable inherited paleohighs and paleoslopes with long-term development history

and foreland thrust belts are considered to be the most favorable regions for the formation of middle and large oil and gas fields.The structural lithologic traps and low-amplitude structural traps control the Paleozoic-Mesozoic hydrocarbon accumulation.Multi-source and multi-stage dynamic accumulation-early reservoir modification and late charge adjustment dominate the hydrocarbon reservoiring in the Tarim Basin.The exploration of carbonate reservoirs shall be focused on compound traps such as the large hypergene karst and reef-bank facies with dissolution pores

as for clastic rock formations

the exploration shall aim at large Silurian stratigraphic overlap traps and structural lithologic traps.The Tabei uplift is the hope for improving reserves and production and all-round exploration of composite hydrocarbon reservoirs should be strengthened.Tazhong paleohigh

Hetianhe palaeouplift

Bachu uplift

Guchengqu paleohigh

and Manan faulted fold belt

shall be the potential areas for further discovery of oil and gas fields

and the superdeep layers and the Cambrian pre-sah dolomites are worthy of further prospecting and investigation.