Latvia’s energy firm Latvenergo said it would import regasified LNG via Lithuania’s Klaipeda facility as part of a move to secure additional supplies due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The state-owned power and natural gas firm said in a statement on Friday it bought two terawatt-hours (TWh) of gas or about two LNG cargoes for the “security of supply of production of the combined heat and power plants of Latvenergo.”
Latvenergo said the move follows a decision by the Latvian government on February 24 to replenish gas reserves for national security purposes due to the “possible risks related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The new deals include LNG supply to the Klaipeda terminal and injection of gas into Latvia’s Incukalns underground gas storage in April and May.
Latvenergo said the LNG supplies would come from Norway, the US, and Qatar.
The US and Qatar are the largest suppliers of LNG to Europe but Norway did not export any shipments since a fire that broke out at Equinor’s Hammerfest LNG plant in September 2020.
Equinor recently said it had again delayed the restart of the 4.3 mtpa Hammerfest LNG plant to May 17, 2022.
Prior to the incident, the facility regularly supplied LNG to terminals in Europe, including the FSRU-based Klaipeda terminal.
In addition, Equinor last year booked for the first time capacity at the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence that serves the facility.
Terminal operator Klaipedos Nafta is leasing the FSRU from Hoegh LNG under a ten-year deal that expires in 2024.
However, the firm has recently decided and won shareholder approval to buy the unit for $153.5 million, excluding VAT, from Hoegh LNG at the end of its current lease deal.
