Latvia

Overview / Data
Analysis Briefs

Country Analysis Note

Latvia, which regained its independence from Soviet Union in 1991, is not a notable energy producer or consumer, ranking in the bottom four among the European Union countries on both measures.
Almost all of Latvia's energy consumed in 2011 was imported, as the country is nearly 100 percent dependent on imports from Russia. The only exceptions are a small amount of liquid fuels produced domestically at about 1,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) and approximately 3.6 billion kilowatthours of electricity produced from renewable sources, mainly from hydropower.
Latvia was a key country for Russia's oil exports to Europe through its Ventspils oil terminal located on the Baltic Sea coast, but with the opening of Russia's port at Primorsk and the Baltic Pipeline System, Latvia's role in Russia's crude oil and liquid fuels exports has eroded dramatically. However, it continues to play an important role as a transit country for Russia's natural gas exports. In addition, it is the only Baltic country with a functioning natural gas storage facility, the Incukalns facility, which helps meet increased demand during winter months.
Electricity generation is primarily based on renewable sources, mainly hydropower at 54 percent of total generation. Wind and biomass and waste account for about 3 percent of total generation. An increasing share of electricity is generated by conventional thermal sources (mainly natural gas) at 43 percent. According to the European Commission, Latvia's energy consumption mix has the highest renewable energy share in the entire EU at nearly 35 percent, and includes hydropower, biomass and waste, wind, and peat.
Latvia's integration into the EU energy market is a priority and is a goal of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP). The goal of the BEMIP is to create a single market for the Baltic Sea region and to establish inter-country connections. As is the case with its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia remains connected to the Russian electricity grid, but the market and management of the system is not consistent with EU requirements.

Analysis Last Updated: March 2013

Overview data for Latvia

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Petroleum (Thousand Barrels per Day)			2011				2012
		History	Latvia	Eurasia	World	Rank	Latvia
Total Oil Production	Production of crude oil (including lease condensate), natural gas plant liquids, and other liquids, and refinery processing gain (loss). Negative value indicates refinery processing loss.	Total Oil Production Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	1.00	13,332	87,329	108	1.00
Crude Oil Production	Includes lease condensate.	Crude Oil Production Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0.00	12,649	74,136	93	0.00
Consumption	Consumption of petroleum products and direct combustion of crude oil.	Petroleum Consumption Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	44.00	4,271	87,605	100	46.00 ^FF
Net Export/Imports(-)	Net Exports = Total Oil Production – Consumption. Negative numbers are Net Imports.	Petroleum Net Exports/Imports(-) Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	-43.00	9,061	--	68	-45.00
Refinery Capacity	Crude oil distillation capacity as of January 1. Sources: U.S. data from EIA; Other countries from Oil & Gas Journal.	Petroleum Refinery Capacity Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0	8,209	88,097	110	0
Proved Reserves(Billion Barrels)	As of January 1. Sources: U.S. data from EIA; Other countries from Oil & Gas Journal.	Petroleum Proved Reserves Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0.00	99	1,474	90	0.00
Natural Gas (Billion Cubic Feet)			2010				2011
		History	Latvia	Eurasia	World	Rank	Latvia
Production	Dry natural gas.	Natural Gas Production Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0	26,848	111,954	89	0
Consumption	Dry natural gas.	Natural Gas Consumption Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	54	21,113	113,321	82	56
Net Export/Imports(-)	Net Exports = Exports - Imports. Negative numbers are Net Imports. Note: Data range begins with the year 1990.	Natural Gas Net Exports/Imports(-) Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	-54	5,852	--	46	-56
Proved Reserves (Trillion Cubic Feet)	As of January 1. Sources: U.S. data from EIA; Other countries from Oil & Gas Journal.	Natural Gas Proved Reserves Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	NA	2,165	6,637	91	NA
Coal (Million Short Tons)			2010				2011
		History	Latvia	Eurasia	World	Rank	Latvia
Production	Production of primary coal (includes anthracite, bituminous, lignite, and for Estonia, oil shale).	Coal Production Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0.000	567	7,954	68	0.000
Consumption	Consumption of primary coal (includes anthracite, bituminous, lignite, and for Estonia, oil shale) and net imports of metallurgical coke.	Coal Consumption Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0.187	432	7,770	88	0.304
Net Export/Imports(-)	Net Exports = Exports – Imports. Negative numbers are Net Imports. Includes primary coal and metallurgical coke.	Coal Net Exports/Imports(-) Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	-0.200	147	--	59	-0.304
Electricity (Billion Kilowatthours)			2009				2010
		History	Latvia	Eurasia	World	Rank	Latvia
Net Generation	Conventional thermal electricity, hydroelectric power, nuclear electric power, and geothermal, solar, wind, and wood and waste electric power generation.	Electricity Net Generation Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	5.41	1,359	19,071	114	6.41
Net Consumption	Net generation+electricty imports-electricity exports-electricity distribution losses.	Electricity Net Consumption Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	6.33	1,181	17,360	101	6.56
Installed Capacity (GWe)	One billion watts or one thousand megawatts of electric capacity, as of January 1.	Electricity Installed Capacity Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	2.16	353	4,843	99	2.17
Total Primary Energy (Quadrillion Btu)			2009				2010
		History	Latvia	Eurasia	World	Rank	Latvia
Production	Production of petroleum (crude oil and natural gas plant liquids), dry natural gas, and coal, and net generation of hydroelectric, nuclear, and geothermal, solar, wind, and wood and waste electric power.	Total Primary Energy Production Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	.034	67	487	118	0.035
Consumption	Consumption of petroleum, dry natural gas, and coal, and net hydroelectric, nuclear, and geothermal, solar, wind, and wood and waste electricity. Also includes net electricty imports.	Total Primary Energy Consumption Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	0.165	40	488	109	0.161
Energy Intensity (Btu per 2005 U.S. Dollars)	Consumption per dollar of gross domestic product using purchasing power parities.	Total Primary Energy Intensity Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	5,669	14,363	7,461	96	5,548
Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Million Metric Tons of CO₂)			2010				2011
		History	Latvia	Eurasia	World	Rank	Latvia
Total from Consumption of Fossil Fuels	Emissions from the consumption of petroleum, natural gas, and coal and the flaring of natural gas.	CO2 from Consumption of Fossil Fuels Enlarge chart Rollover line points for data.Close	7.85	2,429	31,502	109	8.47