US gas would pull down LNG prices in Lithuania – Seimas speaker

“While we were there (Pranckietis was in the US on June 26-30 ), Lithuania signed an agreement on gas purchase with Cheniere. A simple and objective number – the price of LNG in the US before taxes is currently a third of the price in Lithuania. If we managed to ensure supplies from the US and if a trans-Atlantic trade agreement is signed, the taxes would decline and the gas in Lithuania could become cheaper,” Pranckietis told Žinių Radijas news radio on Tuesday morning.

On June 26, Lithuania’s natural gas supply and trade company Lietuvos Dujų Tiekimas (Lithuanian Gas Supply, or LDT) signed a contract with Cheniere Marketing International and purchased a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from the US company. The origin of the gas will be specified after the tanker starts heading in the direction of the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda.

If the gas comes to Lithuania from the US, t his would mark the first shipment of US LNG to Lithuania.

LDT earlier this year purchased some LNG from Koch Supply & Trading, another US company, but the gas was shipped to Klaipėda from Norway, not from America.

LDT and Lithuania’s largest gas consumer, Achema fertilizer producer, are this year buying LNG during the warm season only, when the gas is cheaper. However, LNG is imported all year round by Litgas, which is the assigned gas supplier that has to ensure uninterrupted operations of the Klaipėda LNG terminal.

Last year, US exported 5 billion cubic miters of liquefied natural gas.