A consortium led by Exxon Mobil signed a contract for natural gas exploration near Greece.

A consortium led by the American oil giant Chevron signed an exclusive leasing agreement on Monday to explore natural gas in the southern waters of Greece, expanding American influence in the eastern Mediterranean. This agreement doubles the area available for exploration in Greece and is the second agreement involving American energy giants in the past few months, as the EU seeks to gradually phase out Russian natural gas supplies and the US seeks to replace them. ExxonMobil signed a deal in November with Energean and Hellenic Petroleum for gas exploration in another offshore block in western Greece. The agreement on Monday allows Chevron to lead exploration for natural gas in four deep-sea blocks south of the Peloponnese Peninsula and Crete, covering an area of 47,000 square kilometers.