During his visit to Oslo, Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas met with Statoil's top executives to discuss the possibility of Norwegian LNG supplies, the Energy Ministry said in a press release.
Statoil, owner of the Snohvit LNG export terminal, which exports gas to 10 countries, informed Lithuania's officials about flexible LNG supply contracts, and the short distance to Klaipėda would help cut LNG transportation costs, it said.
"For example, it takes more than a month to transport Statoil gas to Japan or South Korea. It would take just five days for a LNG vessel to travel from Norway to Klaipėda," the ministry said.
Statoil is one of the world's biggest gas exporters and its European gas market share is almost as high as that of Russia's Gazprom, it said.
The state-run oil product terminal Klaipėdos Nafta (Klaipėda Oil) signed a contract with Norway's Hoegh LNG in early March to lease an FSRU for the planned LNG terminal. The 10-year lease is expected to start in September to November 2014. The FSRU will have a storage capacity of 170,000 cubic meters.
Norway is among Europe's main gas suppliers. The country produces around 100 billion cubic meters of gas annually and meets 20 percent of Europe's gas needs.
As part of its search for potential gas suppliers for the planned LNG terminal, Klaipėdos Nafta has recently discussed possible supplies with Azerbaijan's state oil company Socar. The Lithuanian company has signed letters of intent on LNG supplies with Spain's Gas Natural Fenosa and US Cheniere.
Russia's gas giant Gazprom has declared its intentions to supply gas as well. According to media reports, Klaipėdos Nafta is also discussing the supply of gas with international companies British Petroleum, Shell and others.
Klaipėdos Nafta plans to launch a tender this year for the supply of gas to the LNG terminal. Masiulis has said that they expect to sign a gas supply contract in the second half of this year. About a billion cubic meters of gas is expected to be pumped via the terminal in the first year of operation.
It is planned that the LNG terminal, estimated to cost about 200 million euros, will have an annual capacity of 2 billion to 3 billion cubic meters.
