BNE: Lithuania set to agree Chevron deal "this year" says minister

Lithuanian Minister of Energy Jaroslav Neverovich said on July 10 that he has no doubt that the contract granting US energy major Chevron the right to start prospecting for shale gas will be signed this year. 

Lithuanian oil and gas exploration company LL Investicijos - in which Chevron owns a major stake - is waiting to begin exploratory drilling in the district of Silute. The US company was the only bidder in a tender for the licence last year, which the previous government put up for grabs as part of its urgent efforts to break the country's dependence on Russian gas. 

However, on coming to power in December, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius has followed a more "pragmatic" relationship with Moscow and a slower strategy of developing Lithuania's energy security. Although the unbundling of national gas utility Lietuvos dujos has been pushed through, the project to build a new nuclear power plant - Lithuania is also heavily dependent on Russian electricity - has fallen by the wayside. MORE