Lithuania would have no difficulty meeting the European Commission’s recommendation to reduce its natural gas consumption in case there are shortages in winter, Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said on July 20.
“The biggest discussion is about reducing gas use by 15%, but that reduction could only be required when there is an emergency,” he told reporters, commenting on the Commission’s plan to ask EU countries to turn down heating to help the bloc survive the winter if Russia cut off gas deliveries.
Kreivys said Lithuania could replace gas used for heating in Vilnius with fuel oil, noting that businesses were cutting their gas use as well.
“Lithuania, figuratively speaking, today uses 22 shiploads of gas. Three shiploads make up 15%, of which heating gas in Vilnius accounts for one and a half shiploads. We replace them with fuel oil, and hence we have a decrease in gas use,” he said.
According to the minister, Lithuania supports the Commission’s proposal to reduce natural gas consumption.
“The regulation does not change anything in principle. We support it. Other things, such as filling up storage facilities, are acceptable to us, because we believe that this is necessary for Europe’s energy security,” he said. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
