The Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastaurou, met with a US Congress delegation led by Senator Jerry Moran. From the American side, the meeting included Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, John Barrasso, who serves as majority leader and second-ranking Republican in the Senate, John Boozman, Deb Fischer, Gary Peters, and US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle.
During the meeting, the excellent level of Greek-American relations was confirmed, and cooperation in a series of sectors was discussed, with emphasis on energy and investments. Mr. Papastaurou presented the 3+1 energy agreements between our country and the United States in recent months: with the Chevron-HELLENiQ ENERGY consortium, with ExxonMobil, HELLENiQ ENERGY and ENERGEAN, as well as the liquefied natural gas supply agreement between Atlantic See, founded by AKTOR Group (60%) and DEPA Commerce (40%), and the American company Venture Global Inc.
Papastaurou meets Congress delegation: Interest in reviving the 3+1 scheme
American Senators showed particular interest in reviving the 3+1 scheme (Greece, Cyprus, Israel and USA), with the Minister emphasizing that the recent Joint Declaration on the 3+1 Energy Ministerial Summit in Greece in November 2025 with US participation was a commitment to promoting energy security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Minister pointed out that Greece’s role in Europe’s new energy architecture is multifaceted: it serves as a European LNG gateway, a South-North backbone through the Vertical Corridor, an energy diversification hub combining LNG, renewable energy sources and interconnections, and a regional natural gas redistribution center.
He emphasized that for the United States, this cooperation has strategic importance: it expands access to the US LNG market, reduces Russia’s energy leverage, strengthens transatlantic supply chains, supports Ukraine’s and the region’s resilience, and links reliable energy supply with technological competitiveness in Europe, while achieving energy security and stability.
