Abstract: Regarding economy, source of energy and environment as a whole, natural gas will become the fourth generation source of energy instead of crude oil in the twenty-first century.The theory and practice proved that Tarim basin is rich in natural gas, and will become gigantic production base of natural gas together with Junggar, Turpan-Hami, Santanghu, Yili, Yanqi and Zaisang basins.The base construction in Xinjiang may be divided into three stages: oil and gas exploration and development should be paid the same attention from the end of the century to year 2010, with the exploration depth of 3 ~6 km; year 2010 to 2030 will be the stage dominated by exploration and development of natural gas, with the exploration depth of 6~8 km; toward year 2030 to 2050, natural gas will progressively replace crude, with the exploration depth of 8~10 km. At that time, Xinjiang will become the largest production base of natural gas in China.

Key words: Tarim basin, Abiogenic, Organic origin, Natural gas, The twenty-first century, Substitute energy