Abstract: The passive continental margin basins of South Atlantic Ocean, controlled by the rifting and persistent drifting of South Atlantic Ocean, shared the same regional tectonic evolution background. However, due to the asymmetry and imbalance of the opening of South Atlantic Ocean, the development and hydrocarbon potential of basins of both sides varied. The hydrocarbon of eastern South America concentrated in big-Campos basins, typical passive continental margin basins with integrated developing phases, including prerift, syn-rift, transitional and post-rift phases, and each phase had its own unique features, developing pre-salt and post-salt petroleum systems. Whereas, the hydrocarbon of West Africa focused in Lower Congo Basin and Niger delta. Although the integrated features of Lower Congo Basin looked alike the big-Campos basins, the discrepancies of accumulation elements were still obvious. Besides, from south to north, the evolution phases of basins descended. When coming to Niger delta in the middle ofWest Africa, the Niger delta only experienced syn-rift and post-rift phases, and was dominated by Tertiary petroleum system. This paper focused on the formation and evolution of the major petroliferous basins of South Atlantic Ocean and their control over hydrocarbon accumulation. The comparative study could be used as a guide to screening of strategic petroleum provinces overseas

Key words: passive continental margin basin, evolution feature, hydrocarbon geology, Comparative study, West Africa, eastern South America, South Atlantic Ocean