Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to study the tectonics of the Yellow Sea. Although oil-gas exploration has been undertaken for more than 30 years in the southern Yellow Sea, the exploration progress has achieved little. There are three tectonic periods with near N–S trending shortening and compression (260–200?Ma, 135–52?Ma and 23–0.78?Ma) and three tectonic periods with near E–W trending shortening and compression (200–135?Ma, 52–23?Ma and 0.78?Ma) at the Yellow Sea and adjacent areas during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The Indosinian tectonic period is the collision period between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze Plates, which formed the basic tectonic framework for the Yellow Sea area. There were strong intraplate deformations during the Yanshanian (200–135?Ma) and Sichuanian (135–52?Ma) periods with different tectonic models, which are also the main formation periods for endogenic metallic mineral deposits around the Yellow Sea. The three tectonic periods during the Cenozoic affect important influences for forming oil-gas reservoirs. The Eocene–Oligocene (52–23?Ma) is the main forming period for oil-gas sources. The Miocene–Early Pleistocene (23–0.78 Ma) was a period of favorable passage for oil-gas migration along NNE trending faults. Since the Middle Pleistocene (0.78?Ma) the NNE trending faults are closed and make good conditions for the reservation of oil-gas. The authors suggest that we pay more attention to the oil-gas exploration at the intersections between the NNE trending existing faults and Paleogene–Neogene systems in the southern Yellow Sea area.