(Reuters) -Eni’s Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi met the U.S. energy and interior secretaries on Friday as Washington pushes to seal energy supply deals that it hopes will strengthen its influence in the region while weakening Russia’s.

In a series of meetings on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan, Descalzi hosted U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum and Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta, discussing energy security and Eni’s expanding investments in the United States, Eni said in a statement.

The parties reiterated their mutual satisfaction with a deal signed by Eni and Venture Global in July, the Italian group’s first long-term liquefied natural gas deal with a U.S. producer.

Italy and the U.S. vowed on Monday to deepen energy cooper

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