The century-long history of the oil and gas industry in the world has witnessed rapid advancements in petroleum exploration and an ever-expanding scope of research. The dynamic evaluation of oil and gas resources has played a crucial role in guiding and facilitating this process. Specifically, theoretical breakthroughs and initial exploration help identify new potential plays, while resource evaluation and exploration practices together drive both theoretical and technological progress. These contribute to a great leap forward in new areas of petroleum exploration. Over the past two decades, driven by technological advancements and the goals of achieving carbon neutrality and peak carbon dioxide emissions, global petroleum exploration efforts have been extended into deep-water environments, deep plays, and unconventional resources dominated by shale oil and gas, continuously opening new frontiers. According to the independent evaluation of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) 2024, the technically recoverable oil and gas resources worldwide amount to 1868.4 billion tons of oil equivalent, with conventional recoverable resources accounting for 61.2% and unconventional recoverable resources representing 38.8%. Therefore, conventional hydrocarbon resources remain the primary source of utilization, while unconventional hydrocarbon resources serve as an effective supplement. In the next 30 years, oil and gas will continue to play a vital role in global primary energy consumption. In this context, Chinese oil companies should sustain production and ensure sustainable development by securing numerous new overseas petroleum exploration and exploitation projects. Focusing on the high-quality petroleum exploration and exploitation overseas and in combination with petroleum geological conditions, resource potential, and cooperation environments, top ten major regions should be given priority for conventional petroleum exploration in the next decade, such as the Russian Arctic, the Central South Atlantic, and offshore East Africa. For shale oil exploration, seven major regions should be highlighted, including the Arabian Basin in the Middle East, the Volga-Urals Basin and West Siberian Basin in Russia, and the Bongor Basin and the southern Chad Basin of the West and Central African rift system. With the profound transformation of the global energy landscape and increasing difficulties in resource development, petroleum exploration is confronted with unprecedented complex challenges. Moving forward, the deep integration of theory, technology, exploration models, and intelligence will be a critical approach to successful petroleum exploration in the future.

It is essential to intensify research on the strike-slip tectonic system in West and Central Africa to better understand regional tectonic evolution and achieve future breakthroughs in oil and gas exploration. Based on the structural interpretation of extensive seismic data and stratigraphic paleontological analysis of more than 50 wells, this study investigated the tectonic history, sedimentary filling, and evolution of the rift basins in the West and Central Africa, and identified a novel type of intraplate strike-slip tectonic system. It exhibits the following characteristics: (ⅰ) the strike-slip tectonic system in the West and Central Africa consists of the Central African Shear Zone (CASZ) and two rift branches, manifesting as an Nshape; (ⅱ) most of basins and rifts are characterized by rapid subsidence at one end and substantial sedimentary thickness; (ⅲ) two types of strike-slip basins are developed, namely the transform-normal extensional basin (TEB) along CASZ and the strike-slip-induced extensional basin (SEB) at each end of CASZ; (ⅳ) two types of basins display their own temporal and spatial evolution history. TEBs underwent two rifting stages during the Early and Late Cretaceous, with a strong inversion at the end of the Late Cretaceous. SEBs experienced three rifting stages, i.e., the Early Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous, and Paleogene, with a weak inversion; and (ⅴ) this strike-slip tectonic system was formed under intraplate divergent field, indicating a new type of system. This discovery enhances understanding of the breakup of Gondwana and provides valuable guidance for future oil and gas exploration.