If winter turns out harsh, Latvia may run out of gas to satisfy all needs, such as electricity production or operations of certain companies, said chairman of Saeima’s Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee Krišjānis Feldmans.
The politician said if no sudden turns occur, Latvia should have enough gas for heating. Feldmans said energy policy-makers from the Ministry of Economics refused to provide him and his committee any detailed information as to how much natural gas Latvia has and will have available this winter.
The Saeima deputy is concerned that Latvia may not receive the volume of natural gas needed to cover the country’s needs once the LNG terminal in Paldiski, Estonia in the second half of autumn, and after receiving supplies through Klaipeda’s LNG terminal.
The government and Ministry of Economics must publish estimates as to the country’s supplies of natural gas and prepare an immediate gas austerity plan for state institutions even if such a measure creates inconveniences, stresses the chairman of the committee. The austerity plan for state institutions would contribute to preservation of gas supplies for household needs, said the Seaima deputy.
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The politician said even before the inter-session break of the Saeima his committee made several requests to representatives from the Ministry of Economic and Conexus Baltic Grid JSC (Conexus) to find out Latvia’s available gas stores and who owns the reserves stored in Inčukalns storage facility. However, representatives of both Conexus and the ministry said it its a commercial secret and refused to provide the requested information, said Feldmans.
He said he is also concerned that the country may run out of energy resources if winter turns out harsh or if Latvia is disconnected from BRELL, which is the energy supply range that connects Baltic States with Belarus and Russia.
Feldmans stressed an immediate energy austerity plan must be declared in state institutions.
Thea head of the committee also said Latvia ended up in this situation because politicians slowed the LNG terminal project in the country for a long time. Currently Latvia has limited opportunities to use Klaipeda LNG, because Poland pays more money to ensure gas supplies for itself, explains the politician.
As for the claims made to the committee that the Polish-Lithuanian connection would somehow assist with Latvia’s gas supplies turned out «nothing but lies», because now the gas flows in the opposite direction, stresses Feldmans.
Latvia may run out of gas if winter turns out harsh
