Lithuania to build Amber pipeline without Russia - paper

Lithuanian gas company Lietuvos Dujos and Polish Gaz System signed on Monday a memorandum on the construction of the Amber pipeline, which was abandoned by Russian oil giant Gazprom in favor of the Nord Stream pipeline, Kommersant business daily said on Tuesday.
The proposed 460 kilometer pipeline has a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters of gas a year and will run from Lithuania to Poland, connecting the Baltic states with the EU gas transport system and bypassing Russia
The Financial director of Lietuvos Dujos expects half of the preliminary work for the project to be funded by the European Commission and the rest of the money to come from participants in the project.
The memorandum stipulates conducting a pre-feasibility study of the project, including current and expected demand for natural gas in the region, supply sources and market prices.
The study will be handed over to the European Commission in early 2011 and a final decision will then be made on the feasibility of the pipeline construction. Poland believes the pipeline may be built by 2015.
Amber may become part of a pipeline network connecting the Baltic countries, known as the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.