The United States is seeking to deepen energy cooperation with Greece as part of its broader efforts to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said during a visit to Athens on Thursday.
Burgum, who has been touring Europe this week to advance supply deals, told Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that Washington’s strategy was centred on ensuring “energy abundance” for allies.
“The Trump administration has a couple of goals around energy and one of those is energy abundance, so energy to our friends and our allies so they do not have to buy from our adversaries,” Burgum said during the meeting.
His visit came a day after Greece announced that a consortium including oil major Chevron had submitted a bid to explore for natural gas in Greek waters, including areas offshore Crete near disputed maritime zones with Libya and Turkey.
Mitsotakis welcomed the move, linking it with Athens’ sovereignty claims.
“It’s a very interesting coincidence that you come a day after Chevron officially submits interest to start exploratory work in areas south of Crete, confirming the sovereign rights of the Hellenic Republic in that area,” the prime minister said.
Since the EU’s 2022 ban on seaborne Russian crude, the bloc has cut Russian oil imports by 90%. Gas purchases from Moscow are projected to fall to about 13% this year, down from 45% before the Ukraine invasion, according to EU data.
The US has been pressing Europe to accelerate its phase-out of Russian fossil fuels, offering shale gas and oil exports as alternatives. Greece has already increased imports of US liquefied natural gas by 95% in the first half of this year.
