Eesti Gaas, the Baltic-Finnish region’s largest private energy company, is set to enter Latvia’s household natural gas market starting from May 1 under the international brand name Elenger.
“We believe that the entry of a new market player will certainly benefit gas consumers in Latvia, providing people with the opportunity to choose the most suitable supplier according to their gas consumption habits and needs,” Elenger Latvia CEO Davis Skulte said, according to a press release. “We deliver natural gas directly from the producers, and our main partner today is the Norwegian company Equinor.”
It’s also the only natural gas trader in the Baltic region that has secured access to both LNG terminals – in Klaipeda, Lithuania and Inkoo, Finland.
According to Eesti Gaas CEO Margus Kaasik, Latvia’s household natural gas market is approximately quadruple the size of Estonia’s at some 400,000 households.
“We have been selling gas to companies in Latvia for the last five years; now we want to take part in the open household market,” Kaasik said. “We can offer the customer a better price and a more reliable supply, as we buy gas in large quantities directly from Western sources.”
According to the CEO, 70% of Eesti Gaas’ sales currently come from export markets.
Eesti Gaas signed agreements with LNG terminals for a total of ten natural gas cargoes for its customers through this fall, three of which, from the U.S. and Norway, already arrived in Klaipeda in January and March and another seven of which were scheduled to arrive in Inkoo in spring and summer.
Last year, Eesti Gaas procured five cargoes of natural gas via the Port of Klaipeda.
Eesti Gaas provides customers with natural gas in the form of pipeline gas, compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and operates the largest gas network in Estonia.
The company has also recently announced an expansion to Poland, where, likewise operating under the Elenger brand, it sells gas directly to the end consumer as well as to a wholesale distributor and trades on the local gas exchange.
Acquired by Estonian investment company Infortar in 2016, Eesti Gaas operates in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland under the Elenger brand. The group has a total of 50,000 customers. (ERR/Business World Magazine)