"We might come to a conclusion that some of ordinary people are misled and people with selfish and narrow goals are driving up their emotions," Udrėnas told Žinių Radijas (News Radio) on Tuesday.
He noted that at a recent protest rally, people "protested against Lithuania's wellbeing and an opportunity to become a rich country similar to Norway."
"It's strange that nobody protests when they discover that due to changes to the gas price formula of Gazprom and Lietuvos Dujos (Lithuanian Gas), Lithuanian consumers overpaid 5 billion litas (EUR 1.45 billion), and they protest directly against the exploration opportunity for us to learn what we have beneath," Udrėnas said.
The adviser refers to Lithuania's lawsuit the Stockholm Court of Arbitration against single gas supplier to Lithuania, Russian company Gazprom, over a 5-billion-litas overpayment which, Lithuania says, was a result of changes to the gas price formula.
The Government of Lithuania is yet to decide whether to allow US company Chevron to start the exploration of shale gas in an area near the western towns of Šilutė and Tauragė.
Lithuanian scientists estimate that between 30 and 50 billion cubic meters of shale gas could be extracted in Lithuania. Last year, Lithuania imported more than 3 billion cubic meters from the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
