Baltic Times: Let there be gas!

The Independence, Lithuania’s newly purchased Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) storage vessel, arrived at Klaipeda’s LNG terminal on Monday 27. Oct, inspiring hopes of increased energy security in the Baltics.

At the welcoming ceremony, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius stressed it was a historic day not only for Lithuania, but for the Baltic region as a whole, the PM’s press service has informed.

“The regional LNG terminal in Klaipeda opens up opportunities for Latvia and Estonia and all Baltic countries, to make use of alternative sources of gas supply, to obtain competitive prices, to integrate into the internal European Union market and to reinforce our common energy security. Moreover, the influence of this facility in the negotiations on reduced gas prices for Lithuanian consumers is already felt even before the start of its operation,” he said.

No time for delay: “Being late was not an option, although we had to solve a number of puzzles in the course of construction,” Butkevicius continued. “I am proud to say that Lithuania has managed to build this terminal, the first of its kind in Europe, at a record speed of 1.5 years. This was a very complicated project, carried out in the vicinity of a UNESCO-protected area, in line with environmental regulations. It demanded novel technical solutions and a high level of expertise.”
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