“The Norwegians consider that it is a unique project, first of all, due to the most advanced solutions, which will be installed in the vessel... and due to tight schedule of this project’s implementation,” Energy Ministry said in a press release.
The FSRU contract is the largest deal between Lithuania and a Norwegian company in history, Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas and the executives of Hoegh LNG pointed out at a meeting in Oslo.
Sekmokas noted that the LNG terminal was a very important item of gas infrastructure, which would provide alternative gas supply from the end of 2014.
Hoegh LNG executives said that the FSRU technology was cheaper, it could be installed at a faster rate and left room for more solutions as the vessel could be connected to the infrastructure in different locations or even in different countries.
Early in March, Lithuania’s state-owned petroleum product terminal operator Klaipėdos Nafta (Klaipėda Oil) and Hoegh LNG signed a 10-year contract on the lease of FSRU.
The lease of the FSRU will cost 189,000 US dollars (VAT included) per day, or 689 million US dollars over ten years.
The vessel is being built by Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries.