Abstract: Santanghu Basin,located in the northeast Xinjiang,is a medium-sized composite hydrocarbon basin juxtaposing and superimposing relict basins formed in different stages.It has two tectonic evolutionary stages of foreland basin and intracontinental basin that is further divided into three periods of intracontinental rift,newborn foreland basin and dying out basin.The extensive thrusting movements happened at the end of every evolutionary stage,which lead to deformation of sedimentary layers and formation of many enclosures.The southern Tiaohu sag and the southern Malang sag,located in the favorable belt of overthrusting hydrocarbon generation system,are favorable areas for petroleum exploration.