With the formation of advantageous gas prices in world gas markets, three quarters of the gas supplied through the Lithuanian gas transmission grid in the first quarter of year 2020 was imported through the Klaipėda LNG terminal. According to data from the gas transmission system operator, of the total amount of gas that was brought in for consumers in Lithuania, the other Baltic States and Finland in January-March 2020, 74 per cent was delivered from the terminal, and 26 per cent came by pipeline from Belarus and Latvia.
‘This was the first time that gas from the Klaipėda LNG terminal dominated the overall gas flow for the entire first quarter of the year and outrivalled gas supplied via pipelines. Liquefied natural gas has always been more competitive during the warm season, but this winter, the price of gas was much more attractive. In international trading venues, the price of gas has recently been fluctuating between 7 and 10 euros per megawatt-hour, when last year the average price was about 16 euros or more,’ says Mr Nemunas Biknius CEO of Amber Grid.
During the first quarter of 2020, 7.1 terawatt hours (TWh) of gas were supplied to Lithuania, not including gas transportation to the Kaliningrad Region. This is 9 per cent less than in January-March 2019, when 7.7 TWh of gas were transported to Lithuania. During this time, 6.8 TWh of gas were used for Lithuanian demand, or 10 per cent less than during the same period last year, when 7.5 TWh of gas was consumed.
‘One tenth decrease of gas consumption in Lithuania was caused by unusually warm winter weather. This had a direct impact on the reduced demand for gas in heat production. Lower revenues from gas transmission to Lithuanian customers were partially offset by increased gas export flows to the Baltic States,’ says Mr Biknius.
The advantageous gas prices in the first quarter of 2020 increased gas flows through Lithuania to the other Baltic States compared to the same period last year. During January-March, 73 per cent more gas was transmitted, for a total of 118 gigawatt-hours (GWh), compared to 68 GWh during the same period last year. Gas flows may also have been positively affected by Balticconector, the new gas interconnection between Estonia and Finland, as well as liberalisation of the Finnish gas market as of 2020.
Gas transportation through Lithuania to the Kaliningrad Region during the first three months of this year amounted to 7.7 TWh and was 4 per cent lower than during the same time last year, when 8 TWh of gas was transmitted through our country to Kaliningrad.
