Abstract: The paleohigh is the center of long-term hydrocarbon migration and accumulation, and also one of the major domainsfor further exploration of west-central China. Hetian paleohigh in Tarim basin is a paleohigh with deposition and denudation.Itsformation and evolution which have greatly affected the hydrocarbon generation,migration,accumulation and preservation in thestudied area can be divided into three stages: 1) uplifted and denudated stage in Caledonian movement,2) buried stage inHercynian movement, and 3) destructed stage in Himalayan movement. And it became a slope at last following these processes. Itwas the existence of Hetian paleohigh that hydrocarbon generation, adjustment, migration and trap formation in it were in optimalmatched conditions. The evolution of it has a profound geological significance for the source rock development and hydrocarbonaccumulation in this area.

Key words: Tarim basin, Hetian, uplift, structural evolution, weathering crust, oil-gas distribution