A system for determining exploration potential ranking for petroleum plays according to some aspects receives geological survey data of a geographical area to be ranked for a future petroleum play. The system generates predicted values based on the geological survey data, each predicted value indicating a probability that a portion of the basin includes a first characteristic. A set of polygons that represent the basin may be generated based on the predicted values. Each polygon represents a contiguous portion of the basin that has a same predicted value. A basin is score is generated by: generating a score for each polygon using the predicted value; and aggregating the score of each polygon of the set of polygons into the basin score. The basin score is displayed for use displaying for use in determining an area in which drilling a wellbore would have a greater probability of success.