Summary The structures that controlled the Carboniferous tectonic and stratigraphic development of northern England were inherited from the earlier Caledonian orogeny which imparted a strong NW-SE and NE-SW tectonic grain that is evidenced on surface and subsurface data throughout northern England. The subsequent Variscan plate cycle, which involved the closure of the Rheic and Rheno-Hercynian oceans, controlled the development of syn-rift, post-rift and inversion megasequences from late Devonian to early Permian times. Regionally extensive, seismically resolvable sequences developed within the Carboniferous were controlled by episodic rifting and fault reactivation, with eustatic sea-level changes providing a high frequency control on depositional sequences that are generally below seismic resolution. In the south of the province during the Dinantian, carbonate environments were extensively developed in syn-rift basins starved of terrigenous elastics. The north of the region was dominated from early Dinantian times onward by a southward prograding terrigenous clastic delta system. The carbonate environments in the south were finally drowned in the early post-rift (Pendleian) when the supply of terrigenous clastic sediments outpaced subsidence for the first time. Following this, rapid southward progradation of the delta systems occurred as a series of pulses largely controlled by eustatic sea-level changes, but with important local controls, namely antecedent rift physiography. By the early Westphalian, delta top conditions had been established over most of northern England. These conditions were progressively disrupted from late Westphalian C times by inversion related to the Variscan orogeny. Over 70 years of exploration in northern England has resulted in the discovery of 75 million barrels of recoverable reserves. All hydrocarbon discoveries to date within the Carboniferous have shown some element of Variscan deformation in their trap geometry. Tectonics have also exerted a subtle, but important control on play fairway evolution (Fig. 62). The main source rocks, developed in distal pro-delta environments, are restricted to the syn-rift depocentres. Syn-rift siliciclastic reservoirs, associated with the early rift phase are located within the isolated, rifted, half graben. Carbonate reservoirs are controlled by the rift topography and the most prospective rim the margins of the deeper half graben in the south of the province. Delta top channel and mouth bar reservoirs are best developed where they axially infill remnant rift bathymetry. Mesozoic burial, ensuring hydrocarbon generation post-dating Variscan trap formation, is considered to be the main control on the present day distribution of hydrocarbons in northern England (Fig. 62). Areas such as the central Pennines and Northumberland and Stainmore basins which received limited Mesozoic burial are considered to have poor hydrocarbon potential. The Cleveland, Manx-Furness and Cheshire basins where Mesozoic burial was excessive have gas as the major hydrocarbon phase. The East Midlands, where Mesozoic burial and post Variscan trap modification have been moderate, has therefore emerged as the most successful oil province in northern England.