Lithuania to stop importing LNG from May 1

Lithuania will suspend LNG imports from May 1 to mid-June as its import and regasification facility, Independence FSRU, goes for inspection and repairs to a dry dock in southwestern Europe, ICIS reports. Regasification is expected to resume on June 14.

During the repair work, Lithuania will be able to import gas from Poland and Latvia. Poland has its own LNG import terminal in Swinoujscie, and Latvia has the Inkucalns natural gas storage facility.

Lithuania opened an LNG import terminal in 2014. Before that, it relied on Russian gas imports, but gaining access to LNG imports allowed the country to purchase gas more profitably, reducing tariffs by about 20%.

In 2022, Lithuania completely stopped importing Russian gas, and the terminal increased regasification rates to record levels. The country plans to fully buy out FSRU rather than lease it from Hoeh LNG.