The schedule of the LNG terminal’s project was tight, he said adding that the terminal should be put in operation at the end of 2014 and later the authorities would consider possibilities for its expansion.
“Later, of course, we will go back to the possibility of expanding this terminal but this would be the next stage. Its expansion will require certain works, the expansion of gas pipeline system capacities so as to be able to supply a larger volume of gas,” Butkevičius said at a news conference in Riga where he earlier met with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.
Lithuania expects to build the terminal, worth 600 million litas (EUR 174m), in Klaipėda by the end of 2014 to obtain a cheaper alternative to Gazprom-supplied Russian gas, which is widely used for heating.
About a billion cubic meters of gas is expected to be pumped via the facility in its first year of operation. In the future, its annual capacity would be 2 to 3 billion cubic meters.
Lithuania consumes around 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The country has a link with Latvia’s Inchukalns gas storage facility where it stores its gas stocks.
