Re-Os radiometric dating of crude oil can be used to constrain the timing of hydrocarbon generation,migration or charge.This approach has been successfully applied to marine petroleum systems;however,this study reports on its application to lacustrine-sourced natural crude oils.Oil samples from multiple wells producing from the Cretaceous Nantun Formation in the Wuerxun-Beier depression of the Hailar Basin in NE China were analysed.Subsets of the Re-Os data are compatible with a Cretaceous hydrocarbon generation event (131.1 ± 8.4 Ma) occurring within 10 Myr of deposition of the Nantun Formation source rocks.In addition,two younger age trends of 54± 12 Ma and 1.28 ± 0.69 Ma can be regressed from the Re-Os data,which may reflect the timing of subsequent hydrocarbon generation events.The Re-Os geochronometer,when combined with complementary age dating techniques,can provide direct temporal constraints on the evolution of petroleum system in a terrestrial basin.