Seimas members visiting Klaipėda discussed benefits provided by LNG terminal
On Wednesday, a group of members of the Seimas from the Seimas Committee on Economy, Committee on Environment and the Commission on Energy visited the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal “Independence” in Klaipėda, KN says in a press release. During the meeting, the politicians and the Minister of Energy Žygimantas Vaičiūnas as well as the CEO of KN Mindaugas Jusius discussed the issue of assurance of long-term LNG supply import and discussed the implementation of the economically most advantageous solution.
According to KN calculations, since the launch of the operation of the LNG terminal in Klaipėda in 2014, the amount of funds saved by Lithuanian residents due to decreasing prices on gas reached EUR 103 million. This means that over 3.5 years every resident saved EUR 37, and a family of four – EUR 148.
The calculations of KN analysts are based on the prices for natural gas paid by residents valid in 2014 before the launch of “Independence”. The calculations were performed based on the precondition that over those 3.5 years residents consumed the amount of gas, which is planned to be consumed in 2018.
The price of natural gas for residents, who use gas for cooking, decreased by 18 euro cents by this year (in the first half of 2014 – EUR 0.77/m3, in 2018 – EUR 0.59 / m3).
The prices of gas for those who use gas for cooking and heating decreased by 15 euro cents (in the first half year of 2014 – 0.54 EUR/m3, in 2018 – EUR 0.39/m3). Therefore, the current price Lithuanian residents pay for gas is one of the lowest in Europe.
Mindaugas Jusius, KN CEO, notes that four years ago the gas price for Lithuanian residents was a quarter higher, since before the LNG terminal was opened in December 2014, Lithuania could purchase gas only from one supplier – Russian concern “Gazprom”, and pay the highest European price for its gas. For example, the average import price Lithuania paid in the first half of the 2014 was EUR 29.84 / MWh, when the average price in the NBP exchange of the Great Britain amounted to EUR 24.07/MWh.
Now, when Lithuania has access to any seller of gas in the world, it pays considerably lower prices for gas than before the launch of the LNG terminal.
“The critics of the terminal usually claim that prices on gas in Lithuania have reduced due to a decrease in global prices on gas. This is not true. If the decrease in the price was determined by the global tendency, the price would decrease in a similar manner across the world. But it is not the case. The gas price in the NBP exchange, if compared to the price existing four years ago, has decreased by 15%, and in Lithuania it has decreased – 31%,” Mindaugas Jusius explained.
The prices of the gas imported to Lithuania has decreased from EUR 29.84 / MWh (the average price in the first half of 2014) to EUR 20.60 / MWh (first half of 2018), and in NBP exchange – from EUR 24.07 / MWh (first half of 2014) to EUR 20.49 / MWH (first half of 2018).
