Gazprom sells 420 mcm of gas for Baltic States at auction, to Eesti Gaas, LDT, Haupas, Achema
MOSCOW/VILNIUS/TALLINN. March 18 (Interfax) - Gazprom Export has sold 420 million of the 560 million cubic meters of gas it offered at an auction for consumers in the Baltic States, the company said in a statement.
It said 80 lots were sold in deals with six clients at the auction, which lasted from March 15 to 17. The buyers included Eesti Gaas, Lietuvos Energija, Haupas and Achema, the BNS reported.
The gas will be supplied the second, third and fourth quarters of 2016 to the delivery point at the Kotlovka gas metering station on the border between Belarus and Lithuania. The auction offered twenty lots on supply of 57,700 cubic meters a day in the second quarter, another 20 lots of the same size in the third and 50 in the fourth.
Also, gas volumes in the Incukalns underground gas storage facility in Latvia - 16 lots of 5,251 - were offered.
"We are happy with the outcome of our second auction and will be using this model for other gas markets in Europe," the general director of Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova, was quoted as saying.
The buyers
Eesti Gaas bid in the Gazprom auction and will conclude gas deals in the next few days. The company did not disclose volumes or price. "Eesti Gaas participated in the Gazprom gas auction, but we, in accordance with the terms of the agreement that has been concluded, may not disclose details. The bids we made were successful and an agreement will be concluded in the next few days," Eesti Gaas management board member Raul Kotov told the BNS.
In January, Eesti Gaas concluded an agreement with Gazprom on gas supplies in 2016-2018, which "will make it possible to meet the demands of Estonian consumers," Kotov said.
Lithuanian energy concern Lietuvos Energija, which includes gas supply company Lietuvos Duju Tiekimas, and Haupas, which supplies gas to the city of Druskininkai, acquired small volumes at a competitive price, the heads of the two companies said. "We acquired a small quantity of gas at a competitive price, taking into account our needs. This is a new instrument. Our participation in the auctions will depend on whether it is useful. This gives us the opportunity to choose among several options," Lietuvos Energija chief Dalius Misiunas told the BNS. He did not provide more detail concerning the results of the auction or the price, but said Lietuvos Energija would not have bought more gas even if it were offered and that he thought Gazprom hadn't sold all the gas earmarked for Lithuania.
The deputy head of Haupas, Donatas Motiejunas, told the BNS that the company acquired small volumes of gas. "We acquired certain volumes, but we are not major buyers, therefore the volumes are not large. The price was even better than we expected," Motiejunas said.
Lithuania's biggest gas importer, Achema from Jonava, acquired a small amount of gas for delivery in the fourth quarter. "We can confirm that we acquired just a portion of the gas we need in the fourth quarter," Achema spokeswoman Janina Sabaite Melnikoviene told the BNS. She did not disclose volumes or price, citing the confidentiality clause in the contract with Gazprom Export.
Until now, Achema had purchased Russian gas under long-term contracts. However, this year, for the first time ever, the company purchased gas from an alternative supplier, Norwegian Statoil. It plans to buy about 700 million cubic meters from Statoil before October, which is over half of its annual gas requirement (about 1.2 billion cubic meters).
