Moldova to buy US-origin LNG from Greece for consumers
CHISINAU, April 1 (Reuters) - Moldova’s domestic gas supplier Energocom said it will supply its consumers with test volumes of U.S.-origin liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time on Monday and Tuesday.
Moldova relied almost exclusively on Russian gas under a deal with state-controlled Gazprom but stepped up diversification efforts following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine two years ago.
Energocom said in a statement that it will buy LNG from the Alexandroupolis floating terminal in cooperation with Greek state-controlled company DEPA Commercial.
“On Monday and Tuesday, we will purchase 14,000 MWh of natural gas each day at the port of Alexandroupolis. There are about 28,000 MWh in total, which is equivalent to 2.6 million cubic metres of gas,” Victor Binzar, Energocom’s acting director, was quoted as saying.
The company has already tested the import route from Greece, buying a small amount of gas in 2023.
Moldova does not currently buy gas from Russia but its breakaway Transdniestria region relies on its supplies. The total amount of gas in demand is slightly over 3 billion cubic meters per year.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.