The petroleum industry in Lithuania since 2001 is experiencing a sustained fall in output, and is further characterized as investment-restricted.Senkant naftos ištekliams jos gavyba Lietuvoje gali būti stabdoma According to the Geology Office of Lithuania, at the beginning of 2025 country had 2.14 million tonnes of proven oil resources in onshore sources, 60 million in unexplored onshore reserves, and 81 million tonnes offshore in the Baltic Sea.Naftos gavyba Lietuvoje: dar keleri metai ir iš žemės pumpuosime paskutinius lašus In 2024, the country produced 27.85 thousand cubic metres of oil, the lowest annual output since 1991. A total of 5.6 million cubic metres of oil was extracted during 1991–2024 period. No permissions for new exploration are being granted.
History The initiative to discover oil resources in Lithuania started in 1958.VLE - Nafta First proven source of oil discovered near Kybartai town. In 1964 the government funded company established to discover potential oil sources within Lithuanian territory.„LOTOS Geonafta“ Between 1966 and 1969 four big oil sources confirmed in Šiūpariai, Plungė, Pietų Šiūpariai and Vilkyčiai.LOTOS istorija Approximately 4 million tonnes of recoverable oil had been found in seven such location by the 1990s. In 2015 oil sources were discovered in Raseiniai District Municipality.Norvegai pranešė Lietuvoje suradę naują naftos telkinį
The commercial production of oil in Lithuania started in 1990, during energy resource blockade imposed on Lithuania by Soviet Union."Minijos nafta" Vilkyčiuose gręžia naują gręžinį By August of that year, oil extraction had begun at the Vilkyčiai, Genčiai and Kretinga fields. In 2001 Lithuania produced record breaking 471,000 tonnes of raw oil."Geonafta" vienintelė padidino naftos gavybą
Since 2003 oil drilling company unsuccessfully tried to obtain rights to pump oil in the source near Kintai town.Ar išdygs antrasis naftos gręžinys Kintuose? In 2021 Lithuanian Ministry of Environment rejected the application from Minijos nafta due concerns of damage to environment as source located near Curonian Lagoon and create disruptions to develop water sports tourism.„Minijos naftos“ norui išgauti naftą Kintuose – bendruomenės perspėjimas
In July 2021 Lithuanian Minister of Environment Simonas Gentvilas confirmed that Lithuanian government have no plans to encourage production in any of the new onshore wells and potentially could ban oil pumps development in the country once current wells depletes. At current pumping rate, most of onshore wells are expected to get closed by 2027 due to unprofitability.Pocių telkinyje slypi daugiau naftos, nei manyta
Oil production industry Currently Lithuania have 18 onshore wells, all located in western part of the country, mainly Klaipėda District Municipality and Šilutė District Municipality. All oil resources located at least 2km underground:Naujas gręžinys Ablingos telkinyje pranoko naftininkų lūkesčius , 11 onshore oil wells are used for production and 7 – abandoned. Production from two of these was discontinued during 2023, and another one in 2024.
Lithuanian laws do not allow offshore oil extraction. Lithuania made claims that Russia potentially pumping oil that is located in Lithuanian territory via D6 offshore pump in Kaliningrad Oblast.
Locations
All oil fields in Lithuania divided into 13 blocks, administered by the Geology Office of Lithuania, who issues the license for individual companies to develop the infrastructure needed in extracting oil:
Blocknumber Name License owner (2025) 1 Girkaliai LOTOS Geonafta 2 Kretinga 3 Nausodis 4 Plungė - Kretinga 25GenčiaiGenčių nafta 6 Klaipėda Manifoldas 7 Gargždai 8 Plateliai Troba 9 Rietavas LL Investicijos -Šilutė 10 Raseiniai TAN Oil -Kudirkos–KybartaiDiseta
Onshore oil wells in Lithuania
Oil refinery
The only oil refinery in the Baltic States located in the city of Mažeikiai and owned by Orlen Lietuva.
References
External links