Prime Minister of Latvia, Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, stated: “Europe is moving to CO2 neutral economy and that is inevitable. The gas industry has an important role in this transition as part of the drive towards lowering CO2 emissions. Open markets and ever-increasing competition are one of the main preconditions for further development of our economies and the gas industry as well. In this context

we have good news for the industry, consumers and economy – Latvia, together with Estonia and Finland, have agreed to open the regional gas market from 2020.” US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry commented: “I’m incredibly excited about the potential I see here in Latvia to be an energy hub for the region. I believe energy diversity and energy security are essential to maintain our democratic independence and economic prosperity.” Eurogas President, Philippe Sauquet, added: “At the European level there is wide recognition of the need to have gas in the future energy mix for the long term, but there is not enough awareness that natural gas can be more and more mixed with biogas and hydrogen to progressively lower even further gas carbon intensity while keeping an affordable cost for consumers.”