Gazprom Halts Gas Flows to Kaliningrad
Russia's Gazprom has halted gas supplies via Lithuania to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, Lithuanian gas system operator Amber Grid reported on February 9.
Gazprom notified Amber Grid on February 8 that it was suspending gas flow, without specifying a reason. Gas supplies to Lithuania from Belarus have not been interrupted, Amber Grid said, and Lithuanian consumers can also obtain gas from the Klaipeda LNG terminal and Latvia's Incukalns underground gas storage facility.
"Currently, the natural gas needs of the Kaliningrad region are fully provided by the Kaliningrad underground storage facility," Gazprom told NGW.
The Minsk-Vilnius-Kaunas-Kaliningrad pipeline that carries its gas to Kaliningrad has a 2.5bn m3/year flow capacity. Russia also inaugurated a floating LNG terminal in the exclave in January 2019. But the Marshal Vasilevskiy floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) received no deliveries after arriving laden. It has spent much of its time since then on hire as an LNG carrier. Ship tracking data shows it is currently off the coast of South Africa.