Western Greece and Albania have had a broadly similar geological history and the hydrocarbon potentials of both areas may therefore be comparable. In this paper, we briefly review the stratigraphic and structural evolution of Albania and compare it with that of NW Greece in terms of source rocks, reservoirs, seals, structures and maturation history. In Albania, a number of sizeable oilfields produce from Mesozoic‐Paleogene carbonates assigned to the Ionian Zone; traps are thrust‐related anticlines. Gas is produced from both Mesozoic reservoir rocks and also from Tortonian‐Messinian sandstones along the eastern margin of the Neogene Durres Basin. In both Albania and western Greece, the Mesozoic to Eocene succession includes organic‐rich shales which were deposited on the Apulian margin of the Pindos Ocean. Tertiary closure of that ocean resulted in thin‐skinned thrusting onto the Apulian margin along Triassic evaporite décollements. Thick, late Eocene to Miocene flysch was deposited synchronously in the Pindos foreland basin, and was deformed by the advancing thrust system. The Neogene Durres and Preveza Basins developed on the Apulian foreland as a result of complex plate‐tectonic interactions and block rotations. NE‐trending lineaments played an important role in the evolution of these basins, and also gave rise to dip‐closed anticlines in the Ionian Zone successions in both countries. In Albania, the Vlora‐Elbasan lineament controlled the development of structural traps at producing oilfields, and the Cephalonia transform fault in Greece may have played an analogous structural role. Potential hydrocarbon plays in NW Greece, analogous to producing fields in Albania, are located in the Ionian thrust belt and in the Neogene Preveza Basin. In addition, the middle Tertiary flysch basins of both countries may have some gas potential.

This paper investigates the sedimentological response of the Tertiary Pindos and Mesohellenic Basins to localized tectonic and eustatic sea‐level changes in a submarine setting dominated by turbidite deposition. Five composite stratigraphic cross‐sections were compiled from field data, three in the Pindos Basin and two in the Mesohellenic Basin; 45 samples were dated by means of nannofossil bio stratigraphy. On the basis of these field studies, we relate observed changes in depositional environment to eustatic sea‐level changes and to activity on local thrusts. Between the early Eocene and the late Miocene, tectonically‐driven subsidence in both basins was generally more significant than eustatic variations in controlling depositional patterns. However, depositional conditions can be related to eustatic changes at four specific times: late Eocene submarine fans and deltaic or fan‐delta deposits in the Mesohellenic Basin can be related to a sea‐level rise (NP17) and subsequent fall (NP18‐19), respectively; the development of submarine fans in both basins during the early to middle Oligocene (NP22‐23) can be related to a sea‐level rise; a late Oligocene (NP24‐25) sea‐level fall can be related to more restricted depositional conditions, accompanied by intra‐basinal thrusting in the Pindos Basin and the presence of two indentors in the Mesohellenic Basin; a change from deep‐water (submarine fan) to shallow‐marine deposition during the late Miocene in the Mesohellenic Basin can be related to a eustatic fall in sea‐level. Standard organic geochemical analyses were carried out on 93 samples from both basins, including Rock‐Eval pyrolysis and column and gas chromatography. Preliminary results indicate that the sedimentary sequences in both the Pindos and Mesohellenic Basins may have the potential to generate natural gas.

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