Ukraine to import more US LNG, for first time via Lithuanian terminal

Ukrainian state-owned energy company Naftogaz will bring in another shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, with the gas reaching Ukraine for the first time via Lithuania’s Klaipėda terminal. Naftogaz announced the news today on X. Ukraine already imports US LNG via terminals in Poland and Greece.

“The Naftogaz Group, in cooperation with Lithuanian state-owned energy holding company Ignitis Group, has secured a shipment of 90 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas from the US,” the Ukrainian company said.

Russia has sharply increased the number and intensity of attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector. It is targeting both power plants and gas production facilities. The partial loss of gas production capacity has forced Kyiv to increase imports.

Ukraine imports gas by pipeline, mainly from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, as well as US LNG sourced from terminals in Poland and Greece. Lithuania has become a new import route.

“We are diversifying supplies because, amid Russia’s terror campaign against the energy sector, every new route strengthens security,” Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on X.

Earlier this month, Naftogaz announced that Ukraine had received its first LNG shipment from the United States this year. The volume of gas delivered was nearly 100 million cubic meters. Ukraine is working with Polish petrochemical company Orlen to take delivery of LNG. Earlier this week, Naftogaz said it had secured its first shipment of US LNG via Germany, from where the gas will reach Ukraine through a pipeline via Poland.

Russia launched its military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, prompting Western countries to impose a series of sanctions. These are aimed primarily at the Russian economy, especially its oil and gas exports. Russia earns most of its state budget revenue from the sale of mineral resources, so Western countries are seeking to limit Moscow’s ability to finance the war through sanctions. Before the war in Ukraine, Russia was the dominant supplier of oil and gas to European countries.

Poland’s Ministry of Energy announced last November that Warsaw was working with partners in the US, Slovakia and Ukraine on ways to import US gas to support energy security in the region. Annual gas volumes that could flow through Poland may reach four to five billion cubic meters. That is roughly equivalent to Slovakia’s annual consumption.

According to Naftogaz, Ukraine received around 500 million cubic meters of US LNG last year. This accounted for around eight percent of Ukraine’s total gas imports over the period, Naftogaz chief Serhiy Koretskyi said, according to an earlier Reuters report.

US liquefied natural gas is not delivered directly to Ukraine. LNG tankers dock at European terminals, where the liquefied gas is converted back into gaseous form and then delivered to Ukraine’s network by pipeline. So-called regasification is carried out mainly in Poland; Ukraine does not yet have its own terminals for receiving large volumes of LNG.