Hydrocarbon distribution rules in the deep and shallow parts of sedimentary basins are considerably different, particularly in the following four aspects. First, the critical porosity for hydrocarbon migration is much lower in the deep parts of basins: at a depth of 7000 m, hydrocarbons can accumulate only in rocks with porosity less than 5%. However, in the shallow parts of basins (i.e., depths of around 1000 m), hydrocarbon can accumulate in rocks only when porosity is over 20%. Second, hydrocarbon reservoirs tend to exhibit negative pressures after hydrocarbon accumulation at depth, with a pressure coefficient less than 0.7. However, hydrocarbon reservoirs at shallow depths tend to exhibit high pressure after hydrocarbon accumulation. Third, deep reservoirs tend to exhibit characteristics of oil (–gas)–water inversion, indicating that the oil (gas) accumulated under the water. However, the oil (gas) tends to accumulate over water in shallow reservoirs. Fourth, continuous unconventional tight hydrocarbon reservoirs are distributed widely in deep reservoirs, where the buoyancy force is not the primary dynamic force and the caprock is not involved during the process of hydrocarbon accumulation. Conversely, the majority of hydrocarbons in shallow regions accumulate in traps with complex structures. The results of this study indicate that two dynamic boundary conditions are primarily responsible for the above phenomena: a lower limit to the buoyancy force and the lower limit of hydrocarbon accumulation overall, corresponding to about 10%–12% porosity and irreducible water saturation of 100%, respectively.