Baltic, Energy, Gas, Gas Market , Latvia

Asked whether Incukalns gas storage facility will be economically viable, considering the decline in gas consumption, development of interconnections in the region and maintenance costs, Eisaks said that further decline in gas consumption is not expected, while Incukalns gas storage facility will also play a technical role in the regional gas market, ensuring gas flow and balance in the system.

Speaking about maintenance of the facility in the new market situation, he said that the situation will be more complicated than in a closed market when large amounts of gas from one supplier were stored.

He said that Conexus Baltic Grid, for example, has addressed five large gas consumers in Lithuania to learn their opinion about an option to store gas in Incukalns.

Organized by the European Commission and the Ministry of Economics of Latvia, the conference in Riga has brought together experts from the European Commission, the Baltic states and Finland, as well as representatives of large natural gas companies to debate the creation of a single regional gas market.

The regional gas market will become fully operational after construction of the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (scheduled for completion in 2021) and the Interconnector between Estonia and Finland (BalticConnector, scheduled for completion in 2020) is finished.