Abstract: There are six hydrocarbon basins in Libya, in which four are Paleozoic hydrocarbon basins, i.e., the Ghadamis Basin, the Murzuq Basin, the Kufra Basin, and the Cyrenaica Basin. The proved reserves of the basins account for 9% of the total in the whole country. Other reserves centralize in Mesozoic and Cenozoic basins. Based on the study of the exploration history of the oilfields and basins with hydrocarbon discoveries, three factors influencing Paleozoic hydrocarbon discoveries are recognized, namely, the petroleum geology conditions, the exploration degree, the world situation and national policies. The petroleum geology condition is the most critical one. Ghadamis and Murzuq basins have favorable petroleum geology conditions among the four basins. In recent years, the relationship between Libya and U. S. is much better than before and the national policies are favorable, so the exploration investment in Paleozoic basins, especially in the Murzuq Basin, increase a lot, and new discoveries are made increasingly. The Paleozoic basins are becoming hot spots in exploration, and they should be paid more attention by Chinese oil companies.

Key words: Libya, Paleozoic, hydrocarbon basin, exploration history, hydrocarbon discovery, influencing factor