Abstract: For more than 50 yea rs of exploration research, it is revealed that two series of hydrocarbon source rocks of Qaidam Basin are mainly distributed in Tertiary and Jura ssic. The hydrocarbon source rock of Tertiary,mainly distributed in the western region of the basin, has higher hygrocarbon conversion rate, but the richness and thermal evolution of its organic matter are poor in general. While the source rock of Jurassic, mainly distributed in the northern margin of the basin, is of rich organic matter a nd the IIIII2 organic matter is the most common type. There are two kinds of reservoir including detrital rock and carbonate rock, of which the detrital reservoir is the main oil-bearing reservoir in the basin. It is vertically distributed in Jurassic, Palaeocene, Eocene, Lower Xiaganchaigou Formation, and Youshashan Formation. Moreover, it is widely distributed in the area, of which the sandstone reservoirs with different sedimentary origins such as fluvial delta, beach, embankment, and sub-water fun are the most common depositional env ironments. T he total oil resources in Qaidam Basin are 2.15 billion tons with the proven rate being 15.3 percent. It shows that a large potential for petroleum resources exploration still exists in the basin. Based on comprehensive analysis, three key pre-prospecting zones are proposed for next exploration, that is, the structural lithologic zone in the southwestern Qaidam Basin, the deep structural belt in Shizigou-Youshashan, the buried structural belt in the northern margin of Qaidam Basin

Key words: Qaidam Ba sin, oil geology, resources potential, exploration zone