Lithuania speeds up construction of LNG terminal

Construction of Lithuanian liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is being accelerated in order to finish the project by the year-end as planned, the developer and future operator Klaipedos Nafta (Klaipeda Oil) announced on Thursday.
The announcement came as Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius was attending a monthly meeting of the commission on the LNG terminal project implementation in the port city Klaipeda.
"I have been informed that Klaipedos Nafta, responsible of implementation of the project, seeks to enhance the capacity of construction works," local news agency ELTA quoted Butkevicius as saying.
All steps needed to ensure timely completion of the project are being taken now, the prime minister added. He also promised to visit the construction site more often later this year.
Rokas Masiulis, CEO of Klaipedos Nafta, also provided the government leader with technical details about the project. The main equipment on the service platform will be installed later in July, Masiulis said.
"We have never had any free day. We are always looking for additional resources in order to speed up the work," Masiulis told reporters in Klaipeda.
Currently, Lithuania imports all natural gas from the only source -- Russia. The LNG terminal will allow Lithuania to provide itself with natural gas, not depending on the only supplier.
Earlier this week, LITGAS, the state-controlled natural gas trading company of Lithuaina, signed non-binding contracts with seven global LNG suppliers.
LITGAS is also expected to sign a five-year agreement on LNG supplies with Norwegian oil company Statoil the coming August.
It is expected that annual capacity of the terminal would reach 2 to 3 billion cubic meters every year.