Abstract: As one of the most sought-for basins in global deep water oil exploration, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM) has become a focus operation area for major oil companies. According to the analysis of petroleum geologic conditions and the discussion on trap types and oil accumulation models, it is revealed that the distribution of exploration plays is characterized by obvious zonation. There are two types of traps, named 4-way and 3-way, with 3-way as the majority. Key factors for exploration prospects in the deep water GoM are trap, reservoir and migration, while focus varies in different plays. Through comparing oil accumulation elements of the three plays, it is concluded that the Jurassic Norphlet sand play shows superiority to the Wilcox play, and the Miocene play shows inferiority to the Wilcox.