Abstract: The Hefei Basin is a foreland basin, that was constrained by the successive northward overthrusting of the Qinling-Dabie orogenic zone in the south and strike-slip faulting of the Tancheng-Luxian fault in the east during its development. The Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments are derived from the Dabie mountain area in the south and denudational areas in the eastern and northern parts of the basin. The sedimentary facies in the basin consist significantly of alluvial fan, fluvial and lacustrine facies. The basin is characterized by abundant source rocks, good reservoir-seal conditions, various source-reservoir-seal associations and oil traps, indicating a great petroleum potential in the basin.