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Vilnius - Lithuania's environment ministry on Monday approved a bid by US fossil fuels giant Chevron to explore for shale gas, as the Baltic EU state tries to end its energy dependence on Russia.
The ministry "has decided to recommend that the government declare Chevron the winner" of the tender for the exploration permit, Deputy Environment Minister Daiva Matoniene told reporters.
She said the government must now make the final decision. They would then have 90 days to ink a contract with Chevron, the sole bidder.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said Monday he favoured the deal.
"I don't see any obstacles. This process has dragged on too long," he told reporters.
Chevron Exploration & Production Lietuva - registered in Lithuania - is eyeing a field in the Baltic state's west that is believed to contain shale gas and shale oil deposits.
Earlier this year, Vilnius tightened environmental rules after protests erupted against hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", a controversial technology used to extract gas from shale.
Lithuanian officials believe the nation of three million people could have between 30 to 50 billion cubic metres (1,000 to 1,800 billion cubic feet) of extractable shale gas reserves.
Russian energy giant Gazprom is currently Lithuania's sole natural gas supplier. It pumped 3.3 billion cubic metres of natural gas into the Baltic state last year.
Vilnius is also determined to break Gazprom's politically-charged monopoly - a legacy of Soviet-rule - by building a liquefied natural gas terminal, expected to be up and running by late 2014.
