Estonian energy company Eesti Gaas has made agreements with two large LNG terminals in the Finnish-Baltic region to bring a total of ten LNG cargoes by the fall of this year.
Under the agreements, Eesti gas will bring three deliveries to the port of Klaipeda in Lithuania in the winter and seven to the port of Inkoo in Finland in the spring and summer.
FSURU-based LNG terminal in the port of Inkoo was launched in January this year, following the arrival of Excelerate Energy’s FSRU Exemplar on 28 December 2022.
The FSRU Exemplar is 291 metres long and 43 metres wide, and when fully laden holds around 68,000 tonnes of LNG. The unit will serve Finland, Estonia and the Baltic Sea region under the ten-year charter agreement signed by Excelerate Energy and Gasgrid Finland in May 2022.
Commenting on the agreement for the LNG deliveries, Margus Kaasik , CEO of Eesti Gaas, said: “Our gas now comes from the west and by tankers, cooperation with both large LNG terminals in the Finnish-Baltic region and the gas storage in Latvia gives us stability. Our ten LNG cargos will bring security of supply to customers and, hopefully, together with the gas also comes price stability.
“In the big picture, natural gas is making a comeback. The use of natural gas is increasing again since the security of supply in Europe is good and the price is in a downward trend. Gas price has returned to pre-war price levels, and gas is once again cheaper than, for example, light heating oil or propane. Several customers on our different markets, who used alternative fuels in the meantime, are already returning to natural gas today.”
According to Eesti Gaas, the company procured five shiploads of LNG for its customers through the port of Klaipeda last year. The LNG tanker Aristidis I from the United States arrived at the Lithuanian Klaipeda terminal in May, Diamond Gas Crystal from the United States and Arctic Princess from Norway in June, Isabella from the United States in October, and Arctic Aurora from Norway in November.
In January, Equinor’s LNG tanker Isabella delivered this year’s first cargo from the United States to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda.