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Due to activitiy of the Aksaray and Ecemis Faults, volcanic intrusion and westward movement of the Anatolian plate, diapiric salt structures were occurred in the Tuz Golu (Salt Lake) basin in central Anatolia, Turkey. With the collisions of the Arabian and Anatolian plates during the late Cretaceous and Miocene times, prominent ophiolitic obduction occurred in the Pontides and Taurides along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) and East Anatolian Fault (EAF). The NAF and EAF intersect each other in the Karliova region, in eastern Turkey. At this point, due to the northward movement of the Arabian plate in SE Turkey, the Anatolian plate shifted toward the west and south along the fault zones. The same geological tectonic model is proposed at the intersection point of the Aksaray Fault (AF) and Ecemis Fault (EF) in central Anatolia. The westward movement of the Anatolian plate between these two faults resulted in the formation of the diapiric salt structures, volcanic intrusions and overpressure zones in the study area. Paleogeological reconstructions of the Tuz Golu basin indicate that the salient positive structures in the basin were formed during late Eocene-Oligocene times. These structures, like the Yeniceoba-Bezirci and Karapinar-Kochisar trends, are oriented in a NW-SE or N-S directions between the Kirsehir and Sivrihisar-Bozdag massifs. The subsidence rate and Paleogeographic evolutions in the basin show that the southeastern sector of the Tuz Golu basin remained shallower relative to the central and northwestern regions. Based on the paleostructural, subsidence and geothermal reconstructions, it has been concluded that the oil generation and migration zones and geothermal trends are oriented in a NW-SE direction in the Tuz Golu basin.

Two important tectonic phases generated by African and Arabian plate movements influenced the evolution of trends in SE Turkey's oilfields. The main phase occurred during the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) time, while the second phase reactivated the existing trends in Miocene. Paleogeological evolutions reveal that SE Turkey was tectonically stable from Paleozoic up to the end of Cretaceous, during which the structural trends were oriented in a WSW-ENE direction, contrarily, under the influence of opening of the Red Sea area, the existing trends rotated in a counterclockwise direction and oriented in a SW-NE direction. This rotational tectonic event is evidenced by SW-NE alignments of SE Turkey's oilfields in subsurface and Karacadag basaltic expensions and appearence of major faults, like the Dead Sea fault, Adiyaman fault, and Akcakale fault, on surface. Subsurface interpretations indicate that, contrarily to the previous works, which considered the Dead Sea fault and Adiyaman fault separate tectonic features from each other and also attached them to the East Anatolian fault, the Adiyaman fault is the continuity of the Dead Sea fault through the Adiyaman, Diyarbakir and Selmo areas. The Akcakale fault, which generated the Karacadag basaltic flows, is another tectonic element and has influenced the exploration activities in SE Turkey. Moreover, detailed interpretations of well data reveal that the SW-NE structural trends also improved reservoir conditions by creating fractures and dolomitizations in reservoir rocks, and the high geothermal and potential (piezometric) gradients and porosity trends are also aligned in the same direction.