Lietuvos Energija's CEO Dalius Misiunas said accession of the new gas trade company to the Lithuanian market was a sign of growing competition.
"Arrival of a new supplier to the Lithuanian market indicates growing competition among liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers, and this benefits us," Misiunas said in a press release.
LDT CEO Mantas Mikalajunas said LNG supplied by the US company, which plays a role on the European, North American and global LNG markets, would arrive in Lithuania from various sources, possibly also from the United States.
"After surveying about a dozen of suppliers, we opted for the best offer. It allows the company to diversify gas supplies. At the same time, the contract means that our country would receive gas from other LNG sources – we can receive shipments from various locations, possibly from the US," Mikalajunas said.
LDT, which has been buying gas from Russia's Gazprom and Norway's Statoil this year, said that 2 mln megawatt-hours (MWh) would be purchased from Koch Supply & Trading in 2017 – this amounts to about two gas carriers.
Gas coming from Koch Supply & Trading will account for over a third of the projected 2017 gas need of LDT. The company is still in talks with unnamed suppliers over the remaining amount of gas.
Statoil, the main supplier of LNG to Lithuania this year, will provide the Baltic state with about 3.2 mln megawatt-hours of gas throughout 2016, with some gas also purchased from Russia's Gazprom as the residual gas from 2015.
