Lithuanian LNG Importer Inks Latvia Transit Deal

Lithuania's Litgas has signed a natural gas transit deal with Latvian grid operator Latvijas Gaze to ensure shipments to Estonia, the company said on Friday.

Litgas has a contract with Norway's Statoil (STO) to buy 500 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas per year via an LNG import terminal which opened in Lithuania last year.

"Our transit agreement is an important step towards a common and liberalised natural gas market in the Baltic countries," said Dominykas Tuckus, general manager of Litgas.

The European Commission has called on Latvia to approve third-party access rules to guarantee access to the country's grid for all market players.

A Litgas spokesman said the company expected the Latvian government to approve third-party access rules later this year.

Litgas said it planned to supply up to 30 mcm of natural gas to Estonia in 2015.

Lithuania supplied 6.2 mcm or 8.6 percent of Estonia's gas imports in January, the Estonian grid operator said.

Russia's Gazprom was the sole gas supplier to Lithuania and Estonia until the end of 2014.

Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis