reu-2019-01-08 LNG storage Kaliningrad
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-gazprom-putin-kaliningrad/putin-hails-energy-security-boost-from-russias-first-lng-floating-storage-idUSKCN1P216F?il=0
Putin hails energy security boost from Russia's first LNG floating storage
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends Russia's first liquefied natural
gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit inauguration ceremony
in Kaliningrad, Russia January 8, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin
via REUTERS
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin opened Russia's first
liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit
(FSRU) on Tuesday, saying it bolsters the country's energy security.
The Marshal Vasilevskiy FSRU has been set up in Kaliningrad, wedged
between European Union members Poland and Lithuania, by Russian energy
giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) to bypass pipeline gas deliveries via Lithuania
in case transit is disrupted.
Moscow's decision to set up the FSRU was in part to reduce gas transit
risks to Kaliningrad, home to a Baltic Fleet base, as the EU steps up
efforts to reduce its dependency on Russia, a Kremlin-published
transcript of Putin's speech said.
"In recent years we have paid much attention to energy supplies, to the
energy of the region as a whole, including in connection with EU plans to
remove the Baltic states from Russia's energy ring," Putin said.
"This is their (EU countries') business. Additional tax payers' money
will be invested into that."
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told the Interfax news agency that supplies to
Kaliningrad from Lithuania had been completely halted on Tuesday and
replaced with natural gas from the FSRU.
The FSRU, the first of its kind in Russia which arrived from Singapore
last month with a cargo on board to commission the LNG import facility,
can provide Kaliningrad with 2.7 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a
year, Gazprom has said.
LNG is delivered by tankers, meaning it can be supplied to many markets.
Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Alexander Smith