Lithuania boosting ties with US LNG suppliers

Lithuania’s Klaipėdos Nafta, the operator of the country’s first liquefied natural gas terminal, held talks with several US LNG suppliers as it aims to boosts the use of the LNG terminal in Klaipėda.

This week, Klaipėdos Nafta CEO Mindaugas Jusius visited the US and met the representatives of Freeport LNG, Cheniere and NextDecade and Commonwealth LNG, according to a Klaipėdos Nafta statement.

Mindaugas also held meetings with LNG traders Total and BP, the statement said.

“We have a great deal of unused potential to develop our cooperation with the USA and its energy companies. Our experience and competence are evaluated at the international level. We believe that the partnership and established contacts with US companies in the LNG sector will enhance our positions while developing the LNG import projects of terminals,” Jusius said.

The head of Klaipėdos Nafta also emphasized that the US is planning to eboost the supply of LNG to Europe and also to offer new opportunities for the LNG terminal in Lithuania.

“Our aim is to increase the efficiency of the use of the LNG terminal in Klaipėda. The establishment of cooperation and the use of our infrastructure for the LNG import from the USA could help us enhance the added value for Lithuania and the whole Baltic Sea Region. This would undoubtedly contribute to the reduction of the terminal costs for residents and business in Lithuania,” the CEO said.

Lithuania, the largest of the three Baltic nations started importing LNG via the FSRU Independence located in the port of Klaipėda in December 2014.

However, over the January-November this year, the facility has regasified and reloaded 8.65 TWh of natural gas, 29 percent below the 12.19 TWh reported in the first 11 months of 2017.

Mindaugas Jusius also noted that the possibility to import LNG will become more significant after the projects of gas interconnections are finalized.

It is expected that the project of gas interconnection between Estonia and Finland will be completed in 2020, and the gas pipeline between Poland and Lithuania will be finalized in 2021, the statement said.

To remind, in April, Klaipėdos Nafta and Freeport LNG signed a mutual memorandum on further cooperation in design and development of the land-based infrastructure for floating LNG terminals.