In recent years, exploration of tight oil in the Nanpu Sag has made significant progress in the third member of the Upper Palaeogene Shahejie Formation (Es3) in the Nanpu Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, Northeast China, showing excellent prospects. However, owing to insufficient understanding of the hydrocarbon generation and expulsion characteristics of Es3 source rocks and their matching relationship with the reservoir tightening time, the genetic type and resource potential of tight oil systems are not precise, which limits the further exploration of tight oil. In this study, the geological and geochemical characteristics of Es3 source rock are identified through a comprehensive geological and organic geochemistry analysis. In addition, hydrocarbon generation and expulsion patterns are established using a hydrocarbon generation potential model. On the basis of these results, combined with sandstone reservoir evolution histories, we have identified the genetic type and resource potential of the tight oil. The results show that the kerogen types of the Es3 source rocks of the Nanpu Sag, are widely distributed in an area of nearly 1,000 km2 and have a large thickness of more than 700 m, are mainly Types II and III with a high average total organic carbon (TOC) value of 1.63%. Moreover, the source rocks are primarily in the mature stage, with an average vitrinite reflectance (Ro) of 1.06%. The Es3 source rock reached the hydrocarbon expulsion threshold at Ro = 0.7%, and the hydrocarbon expulsion efficiency was approximately 70%. Two hydrocarbon generation and expulsion centres are identified, the Gaoshangpu and Laoyemiao structural belts, with maximum hydrocarbon generation and expulsion intensities of 100 × 106 t/km2 and 80 × 106 t/km2, respectively. In addition, two genetic types of tight oil are identified with accumulation before and after tightening, respectively. The resources of these types are 2.3 × 108 t and 20.4 × 108 t, respectively, with a total of 22.7 × 108 t, which indicates significant prospects for tight oil exploration.