Amendments to the deal would help reduce the costs of maintenance of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Klaipeda and, simultaneously, the prices of energy for end users, by more than one-third, Litgas said in a press release.
"We've managed to find mutually acceptable agreements, which help reduce the LNG facility's maintenance costs and energy prices and also help ensure continuous operation of the terminal... According to our calculations, the annual expenditure incurred by natural gas consumers due to the LNG facility's price component may decrease by more than one-third – approximately 33.8 million euros – thanks to the amendments to the contract," the press release quoted Dalius Misiunas, Lietuvos Energija chairman and CEO, as saying.
In view of decreasing demand in natural gas in the energy sector, which has been obliged to purchase gas from the LNG terminal, the annual gas purchase volume has been reduced by about one-third – to approximately 3.6 TWh (350 million cubic meters), from approximately 5.5 TWh (approx.. 540 million cubic meters). The term of the contract has been extended until the end of 2024 and will now coincide with the term of lease of the Independence, the LNG facility's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).
The parties to the contract have also revised the price formula, which will bring the price of LNG supplied under this contract closer to the price of pipelined gas. As estimated by Litgas, the average LNG import price may decrease to around 16–21 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) this year, from 29.04 euros per MWh in 2015.
As a result of lower infrastructure costs, heat users will each year save 11.3 million euros, electricity users – 9.8 million euros, industrial users – approximately 7 million euros, households and companies consuming gas –2 million euros and 3.6 million euros, respectively.
Lithuania's fertilizer manufacturer Achema, the country's largest gas consumer which, until now, used to purchase gas solely from Russia's Gazprom, has signed a definitive gas supply contract with Norway's Statoil.
"We confirm that the definitive agreements on the supply of the basic volume of gas this year were signed with Statoil at the end of this week," Achema CEO, Ramunas Miliauskas.
The details of the contract would not be provided, given their commercial nature, he said.
First reports about the agreement between Achema and Statoil appeared late in January. Achema then said that the price of gas that would be purchased from Statoil would be indexed to Britain's National Balancing Point gas hub. The same index is applied to Litgas, a Lithuanian gas trade company which signed a revised supply contract with Statoil on Thursday, but the price formula may differ. Miliauskas earlier said that Statoil had offered a better price than Russia's Gazprom.
Achema spokeswoman, Janina Sabaite Melnikoviene, earlier told BNS that the fertilizer manufacturer would purchase approximately 700 million cubic meters of gas, i.e. more than 50% of its expected gas consumption this year [approx. 1.2 billion cubic meters], from Statoil by October.
A new shipment of Statoil's liquefied natural gas (LNG) addressed to Achema and Lietuvos Duju Tiekimas (Lithuanian Gas Supply, or LDT) was delivered to the LNG facility in Klaipeda on Feb. 16.
Twelve tankers, including Litgas shipments, should in total deliver approximately 1.15 billion cubic meters of gas to the LNG terminal by the end of September.
