Abstract: Tectonic evolution of North Atlantic can be divided into three stages – the Permian intracontinental rift stage, the Triassic-Jurassic syn-rift and thermal subsidence stage and the Cretaceous passive continental margin stage. The passive continental margin stage includes two evolution branches. The ^“western branch^” represents Baffin Basin and West Greenland Basin formed from separation between Greenland plate and North America plate while the ^“eastern branch^” includes Faro Basin, Norwegian Shelf Basin and East Greenland Basin formed from separation between Greenland Polar plate and European plate. The Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous period is the important hydrocarbon sourcing stage for the North Atlantic sedimentary basin with three types of source rock developed – restricted marine source rock of the transition period, restricted marine source rock of the rift stage and open marine source rock of the passive continental margin stage, of which restricted marine source rock is the most abundant in organic matter and highest in hydrocarbon sourcing ability. Based on development characteristics of source rock, horizontal distribution and exploration degree of the basins, it is pointed out that Norwegian Shelf Basin and Faro Basin have great potential for exploration while East Greenland Basin shows a large-scale prospective reserve.