KN calls for Klaipėda LNG capacity allocation

Klaipedos Nafta, Lithuanian oil and LNG terminal operator, has launched an annual capacity booking procedure for the Klaipėda LNG terminal.

The new gas year, for which the procedure is being launched, starts on 1 October 2021.

The total amount of the allocated LNG terminal capacity is 3.75 billion normal cubic metres, which is 44,625,000 megawatt hour per year. This applies a natural gas gross calorific value of 11.90 kilowatt-hour per normal cubic metres.

Up until now, during the gas year that goes from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021, the LNG terminal received 41 gas carriers, compared to 42 serviced last year. Another 9 gas carriers are expected at the terminal by the end of the gas year.

In this period, 1.73 million cubic metres of LNG were delivered, 82 per cent of which were delivered from the USA.

The last year’s capacity allocation procedure booked about 8.4 terawatt-hours of terminal capacity, and almost 12 terawatt-hours were booked during the current gas year. This is a total of 20.3 terawatt-hours, compared to 22 terawatt-hours the period before.

Klaipedos Nafta allocates the capacity in accordance with the regulations of the LNG Terminal, which are agreed and approved by the government and the company. During the LNG terminal capacity allocation, LNG regasification capacity and LNG reloading capacity will be allocated in advance.

“Last year during the capacity allocation procedure the most capacity was booked in the entire history of the LNG terminal. At the end of the gas year a significant amount of additional capacity was booked. This was due to the low LNG prices on the market and LNG buyers in Europe actively took advantage. In the first quarter of 2021, a peak in the Asian spot market was observed, as well as the diversion of some LNG cargoes to exactly that region, though the supply of natural gas through the Klaipėda LNG terminal remains important to its customers. This year may be important for customers, who are planning their activities and willing to reserve LNG terminal capacities also due to the planned completion of the GIPL connection between Lithuania and Poland, which opens up additional market potential in 2022”, said Mindaugas Navikas, chief sales officer at KN.

“This year, we set ourselves the task to answer the question what long-term capacity allocation and tariffication mechanism is the most suitable for operations of Klaipėda LNG terminal. For this reason, a study will be carried out by external experts comparing the capacity allocation and pricing mechanisms of LNG terminals operating in Europe. Finding the optimal model suitable for our terminal will undoubtedly change both the principles of capacity allocation and the pricing itself, but no changes are planned for this particular gas year yet”, he added.

KN accepts applications from potential users of the LNG terminal by 24 May 2021.

This year, six companies from Lithuania and Estonia are using the LNG terminal in Klaipėda.