Abstract: East African rift system belongs to comparatively new intracontinental rift basin group. Albert rift is located in the north of the west branch of East African rift system. Since 2006, 16 oil and gas fields have been discovered here, with total recoverable reserves being 1.127 billion bbl. Through dissection of Albert rift basin, it is pointed out that East African rift system is a rift basin Mesozoic and Caenozoic era overlay. Among this, Caenozoic era is the main rift phase and filled with continental river and lacustrine deposit. Combination of alluvial fan---fan (braid river) delta---turbidite sand deposit system developed in peripheral lake basins, featuring in rapid deposition and change of facies and belts. Drilling results proved that the rift system had favorable petroliferous conditions, with development of high-quality Neocene Miocene lake source rock and good reservoir property. It is dominated by braid river delta and fan delta front subfacies channel deposit. All oil and gas discovered concentrate in faulted blocks and faulted-nose traps. It is seismically indicated that turbidite sand reservoir might be formed here. Analogy analysis showed that Albert rift has 4～5billion bbl resources at least, and the rifts southward have huge exploration potential. The east branch of the rift system deserves attention, even though volcanic rock developed here.

Key words: East African rift system, Albert rift, overlay rift basin, petroliferous condition, resource potential