Klaipedos Nafta, the operator of Lithuania’s first LNG import terminal, could turn to re-exporting the liquefied natural gas to global markets as the domestic demand drops during the summer months.
Indre Miliniene, head of communication at Klaipedos Nafta , confirmed that there are some discussions on re-exporting the chilled gas.
However, “Lithuania needs to prepare a regulatory system for re-exporting and this question has to be sent to Ministry of Energy ,” Miliniene told LNG World News in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday.
The FSRU Independence, owned by Höegh LNG, started serving as the country’s first import terminal last year in order to reduce Lithuania’s dependence on Russian gas supplies as well as a door to global LNG sources.
However, since Lithuania signed the LNG imports deal with Statoil, Russian energy giant Gazprom cut the price of the gas it supplies to Lithuania via a pipeline by 20 percent.
According to Reuters, Klaipedos Nafta’s CEO, Mantas Bartuska, said on Monday that this decrease prompted the industry and the government to change the regulations prohibiting LNG re-export.
The price difference now creates an option to reload and re-export cargoes during summer from the LNG terminal in the port of Klaipeda, selling the gas to interested buyers for a profit.
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LNG World News Staff, Image: Höegh LNG