南海处于欧亚板块、太平洋板块和印—澳板块三大板块的交汇处，经历了复杂的地质作用和演化过程，在其北部、西部和中南部形成了数目众多、类型各异的沉积盆地，石油地质条件优越，油气资源潜力巨大。其中南海北部陆架区已经成为中国近海的主要油气产区之一，陆坡深水区的勘探也获得了重大突破。目前，我国传统疆域内的油气资源正在不断受到南海周边国家的蚕食，因此，应该加快南海地区的油气资源勘探，切实维护国家主权和领土完整。

South China Sea is located in the junction of Eurasian Plate, Pacific Plate and Indian-Australian Plate, and experienced a complex and poly-phase history. A great number of basins with favorable petroleum geological settings and huge resource potentials are distributed in the northern, western and central- southern South China Sea. Among them, the northern shelf region has become an important oil and gas production region and significant breakthrough has attained in the petroleum exploration of northern slope deepwater recently. Currently, petroleum resources in the Chinese conventional boundary line in the South China Sea have been looting by nearby countries, in order to maintain national sovereignty and territorial integrity; efforts must be made to accelerate the oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea.