Ukraine Pens Deal for US LNG
Ukraine's government has signed a memorandum of cooperation on importing up to 5.5bn m3/yr of US LNG with a company called Louisiana Natural Gas Export, it said in a statement on May 27.
The government did not say how it intended to import the gas. But Ukraine has in the past bought US LNG imported at Poland's Swinoujscie LNG terminal, which is undergoing an expansion that will raise its capacity by 50% to 7.5bn m3/yr. Poland and Ukraine are also working to increase their cross-border gas infrastructure, so that the latter can receive more supplies from Swinoujscie.
"The memorandum provides for the study of the possibility of diversification of natural gas supply sources by ensuring long-term supply of LNG and the development of cross-border gas infrastructure of Ukraine and the EU," Ukrainian energy minister Olga Buslavets said.
Ukraine stopped buying gas from Russia in 2015, after relations between the two neighbours collapsed following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in the previous year. It has since covered its needs with domestic supply and imports from Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
The government has offered dozens of production-sharing contracts and concessions over the past two years to spur development of its resources and become self-sufficient in gas.