Baltic, Energy, Forum, Latvia

On March 13, 2014 the Parliament of Latvia approved the final amendments to the Energy Law, which foresees opening up the gas market by April 2017. So the gas monopolist Latvijas Gaze is to be unbundled by April 3, 2017 at the latest. The objective of this is to transpose the EU Third Energy Package into Latvian legislation to ensure liberalization of the natural gas market, stimulate alternative supplies and overall competition in the market.

The chairman of LATEA, Mr. Raimonds Keirans, emphasizes, that despite the legislation formally approved, Latvia remains a weakest point in EU energy independence activities. Even more – it still certainly lags behind it in terms of energy policy and clarity as well as the concrete actions (for example, there will be no real opportunity to have the gas supplies from Lithuanian LNG terminal until 2017).

As Mr. Raimonds Keirans mentions, the USA has reduced radically its energy dependance lately by developing shale gas and by that the overall picture in world energy policy and markets is changing. Liquid natural gas and its terminals in the USA and EU have a potential to work with great capacity and help bring down energy prices, and especially- the price of gas. That will help to develop the new political concept of EU – European Energy Union: a single energy market, with all the cross-border connections for electricity and gas and open trade in the European Union.

The Baltic Energy Alliance will contribute significantly to the diversification and security of the energy market and is open for any contributors now to gather diverse opinions and stakeholders.

The conference “ Baltic Energy 2015” is a high profile event bringing together government officials, energy market leaders, international experts and discuss the best practices and ways of building a stable and long lasting energy market in the Baltics.