The Dutch Shell, which will shortly deliver a small amount of LNG to the Lithuanian port city of Klaipeda, could become another player on the Lithuanian market, while players say the company is interested in the small-scale LNG market, however, refused to predict whether it would become a new major LNG supplier, writes Lithuanian LETA/BNS on August 7, 2017.
Rolandas Zukas, CEO at Lithuania's electricity and natural gas transmission group Epso-G that owns Klaipedos Nafta (Klaipeda Oil), the company that will receive Shell gas for tests of its distribution station, says that Shell was possibly analyzing the possibilities of operating in Lithuania.
«I believe that companies, such as Shell, always analyze such possibilities and, as one of the biggest energy companies, do not only supply large amounts but also on a small scale,» Zukas told BNS.
However, in his words, the company's supplies of 1,000 cubic meters of LNG for tests of the distribution station do not necessarily mean Shell's plans to gain grounds in Lithuania.
«The fact that it will supply gas for the tests may not necessarily mean that they are trying to gain grounds on the market, however, the company's willingness to provide gas under the best conditions signals some interest in the region,» said the Epso-G CEO.
In a LNG market review published in February, Shell said that the growth of LNG demand will be caused by small-scale gas trade, as well as the use of the gas to power transport.
Shell predicted that the global LNG consumption would no longer be dependent on energy producers, with increasing amounts of gas consumed by other sectors.
Lithuania currently receives LNG from four suppliers, namely, Norway's Statoil, which has a contract with Litgas until 2024, US companies Koch Supply & Trading and Cheniere Marketing International, as well as Gas Natural Fenosa of Spain.
All of the companies are engaged in wholesale gas trade, while a small-scale LNG business is developed by unloading Statoil gas onto smaller vessels in Klaipeda.
