Lithuania’s LDT buys second US LNG cargo

Lithuania’s natural gas supply and trading company Lietuvos Dujų Tiekimas, part of the state-controlled Lietuvos Energija, bought another cargo of US liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Lithuanian company said on Wednesday it signed a trade agreement with Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa and purchased the LNG cargo.

The cargo will be sourced from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal in Louisiana, currently the only such facility to export US shale gas overseas.

Gas Natural Fenosa has previously contracted about 3.5 mtpa of Sabine Pass LNG for a period of 20 years.

Lietuvos Dujų Tiekimas said the Sabine Pass cargo is expected to be delivered to the port of Klaipėda, where the Independence FSRU is located, in mid-September.

It would be the second US LNG cargo delivered to Lithuania. The first LNG cargo, bought by Lietuvos Dujų Tiekimas directly from Cheniere, is expected to arrive in the second half of August.

Lietuvos Dujų Tiekimas noted in the statement that the latest Sabine Pass cargo would be the company’s fourth LNG shipment this year, with Natural Gas Fenosa being the fourth LNG supplier to Lithuania.

Lithuania, the largest of the three Baltic nations, started importing the chilled fuel via Höegh LNG’s FSRU Independence in December 2014 in order to reduce its dependence on Russian pipeline gas supplies.

“Liquefied natural gas, which will soon be delivered to Lithuania from the US, is great news showing competition of global companies for the supply of natural gas to Lithuania,” said Saulius Skvernelis, the Prime Minister of Lithuania.

“The second contract on the supply of LNG from the US in less than a month and the expanding geography of LNG suppliers are specific instruments that help ensure the lowest possible gas prices for consumers of Lithuania and other Baltic States,” added Skvernelis.

“Growing global LNG production capacities have increased market liquidity and spot deal supply. Such a situation has created opportunities to purchase LNG at competitive prices, which is beneficial for gas consumers in the region. The strategy to diversify sources of supply by combining agreements of different duration has definitely proved to be successful,”  said Dalius Misiūnas, Chief Executive of Lietuvos Energija.