Latvian supplier downplays reports on impending gas sales to Lithuania
RIGA/VILNIUS. Oct 29 (Interfax) - Latvia is not planning to sell any natural gas to Lithuania because it is not sure it will have enough gas for its own needs, Latvian gas importer Latvijas gaze said.
"We no longer face any prohibition on sale of gas to neighboring countries. However, we do not have the ability to quickly obtain additional gas volumes. Currently we cannot say how much unused gas will be left in underground storage. Perhaps these questions can be resolved in upcoming negotiations," Latvijas gaze spokesman Vinsents Makaris said in an interview with Lithuania's TV3 television network.
Reports appeared yesterday saying that Lithuania could buy gas from Latvia given cancellation of Gazprom's ban on its Central and East European customers from selling gas to third parties.
The CEO of Lietuvos energija, Dalius Misiunas, said in an interview with the newspaper Verslo zinios that his company "consulted with neighboring countries" last week on the possibility of buying cheaper gas.
Verslo zinios reported that Latvijas gaze may have a surplus of about 300 million-400 million cubic meters of gas, which was originally earmarked for financially troubled Liepajas Metalurgs and never used.
The newspaper reported that 1,000 cubic meters of gas currently costs $516 in Lithuania but just $360-$440 in Latvia.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said that he has already discussed gas purchases with his Latvian counterpart and that the talks would resume in a week.
"It was a bit of a surprise for him [the Latvian prime minister]. He said that he had yet to examine the issue," Butkevicius said on Tuesday in an interview with Lietuvos radijas radio.
"We will continue this discussion at the end of next week, at the meeting of the Baltic States prime ministers. It is a crowded agenda, but we will find time for every topic," he said.
But even if the two companies reach agreement on the gas issue, there is no guarantee that gas prices in Lithuania will decline as a result.
"For now it's too earlier to speak of the specific effect on prices," advisor to the Lithuanian energy minister Daiva Rimasauskaite told Verslo zinios.