Last year, Europe became the world’s main consumer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the trend in LNG consumption has remained high in the first half of 2020, which has led to an increase in the efficiency of LNG terminals.
Klaipėda LNG terminal operated by KN is no exception, the utilisation rate of which has increased from 43 per cent last year to 48 per cent in the first half of this year.
According to Lithuania’s natural gas transmission operator Ambergrid, since January, 72 per cent of total gas quantity was supplied to consumers in Lithuania and other Baltic States from the Klaipėda terminal. After putting the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania into operation in 2022, one more gas supply source will be established, diversifying the gas supply from various sources via Poland to Lithuania, other Baltic States and Finland.
“Almost three-quarters of natural gas from Klaipeda LNG terminal was supplied to Lithuanian and other Baltic consumers in the first half of this year, when compared to pipelines – only 28 per cent,” noted Jurgita Šilinskaitė-Venslovienė, KN‘s acting Chief Sales Officer. “This is almost twice as much as in the first half of last year when the supply of natural gas from the terminal accounted for 43 per cent. It is obvious that natural gas importers, assessing the prices of pipeline gas and global LNG, chose to buy more of the latter”.
According to her, customers took advantage of the current lower prices in the global LNG market together with the opportunity to purchase cheaper cargos as well as the opportunity to store gas the underground storage facility of Inčukalnis.
