Six palaeouplifts of the Yanshan period and one anticline of low amplitude at the end of the Paleogene were identified in the Kuqa foreland basin according to strata contact relations

sedimentary characteristics

and seismic reflectance signatures.This paper concludes that the palaeouplifts at the end of the Yanshan period controlled oil accumulation

the anticline of low amplitude at the end of the Paleogene controlled gas accumulation

and the thrust anticline trap at the end of the Neogene was rich of gas.The conclusion suggests that palaeouplifts of foreland basin had a similar controlling effect on hydrocarbon distribution as that of palaeouplifts in craton basin.Two vertical overpressure systems were identified in the Kuqa foreland basin.The deep overpressure system was caused by the generation of a large amount of hydrocarbons under conditions of fast burial

while the shallow overpressure system was the result of a late lateral tectonic compression.A large amount of earlier-generated gas were accumulated in the palaeouplifts

leading to the formation of the deep overpressure systems.The palaeouplifts determined the location of the Neogene thrust anticline and thus the distribution of present gas reservoirs.