Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas: “Close cooperation with the US is essential to tackling the common challenges of energy security in the Baltic region”

Prelease, 1 August 2017

Photos of the Office of the Seimas (author Džoja Gunda Barysaitė)

On 1 August 2017, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Members of the United States Congress. The US Congress delegation, composed of Members of the House Committee on Natural Resources under the leadership of Rob Bishop, Chairman of the Committee, as well as Mike Turner, Member of the House Committee of the Armed Services, came to Lithuania to familiarise themselves with the situation in the energy market of the Baltic region and to discuss regional security issues.

According to the Speaker of the Seimas, the meeting focused on opportunities offered by the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Klaipėda and its benefits to the Baltic region as a whole. In the context of planned significant increase of the volume of natural gas production by the US,  its representatives affirmed their awareness of Lithuania’s strive for energy independence from Russia and pledged their support to Lithuania.

“The emergence of new suppliers from the US in the EU’s gas market leads to increasing competition between LNG suppliers and contributes to the shaping of the gas market as well as greater diversification of energy sources in Europe,” the Speaker of the Seimas said.

Mr Pranckietis expressed his opinion that Lithuania’s strategic decision to construct the LNG terminal in Klaipėda had proved its worth. A strong contributor to energy security of the Baltic countries, the LNG terminal has a significant impact on the prices of natural gas due to the availability of cheaper gas from more than one source. This brings real benefits to the Lithuanian people through reducing the prices for heating and other costs related to natural gas.

No later than in August, Klaipėda will see the arrival of an LNG cargo purchased by Chenerie Marketing International, a US-based enterprise.

Dalia Vencevičienė, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6016, mob. +370  698 42 071, e-mail: [email protected]