“We may state that a certain stage – of expert discussions, expert talks – has ended. I think it’s now time for our partners to start making decisions. We, in our turn, would like to have the prices, I mean Gazprom’s prices, rationalized as soon as possible,” he said in an interview to Žiniu Radijas on Thursday.
He noted that a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which would be put in operation at the end of 2014, would open up a possibility for Lithuania to purchase gas at international prices.
“We are certain that the terminal, which would come into existence at the end of next year, would also bring in certain rationalization and a possibility to have global market prices in Lithuania,” the minister added.
Klaipėdos Nafta (Klaipėda Oil), the state-owned petroleum product terminal operator developing the LNG facility project, is currently holding talks with potential gas suppliers. However, it would not disclose either the identities of those suppliers or the bids. Still, they are expected to supply gas at lower prices compared with the price of Gazprom, which, according to the data made available by the National Control Commission for Prices and Energy, supplied gas to Lithuania for around 482 US dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in June.
Current Lithuania‘s Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius earlier mentioned that Lithuania wanted the price of gas to be lowered by around one-fifth and said that the government would seek to convince Gazprom to lower the gas price. The previous government wanted the price of gas to be linked with the price of biofuel.
The existing long-term gas supply contract between Gazprom and Lithuania‘s gas supply company Lietuvos Dujos (Lithuanian Gas), which was signed in 2005, will remain in effect until the beginning of 2015. At the end of each year, the parties sign an addendum to the contract to set specific gas purchase volumes and prices for the next one-year period.
Lithuania imports around 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
