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Natural gas in the Netherlands

In 1959, when a NAM exploration well struck gas near a village named Slochteren in the northern province of Groningen, it marked the beginning of a new chapter in the country's history, a chapter in which natural gas plays a prominent role. The gas field which NAM had discovered turned out to be one of the biggest in the world, covering an area of around 900 km² and with original producible gas reserves estimated at 2,700 billion m³. The sale of the gas has earned a great deal of money and, since a large share of the sale proceeds is paid to the state, the Groningen field has helped to contribute to the country's prosperity.

'Small fields' policy

Back in 1963, the Dutch government took the view that nuclear power would replace fuels such as natural gas within a matter of decades. Proceeding on that basis, it was decided to sell a significant part of the reserves on the export market. In 1974, when it had become apparent that public opposition to nuclear energy would prevent this prediction coming true, the 'small fields' policy was adopted. NAM went in search of other gas fields, in order to extend the life of the Groningen field. This new policy proved successful and dozens of new gas fields were discovered. Only around a third of our gas now comes from the Groningen field, with gas from these smaller fields and imports making up the remainder.

Blending gas streams

Supplying gas produced at small gas fields is more problematic, because the composition of the gas differs from one location to another. The difficulty arises because the appliances in use in the Netherlands, both domestic and industrial, are designed to burn gas of one specific composition: that of the Groningen gas. This means that we have to blend the different gas streams with gas from Groningen to achieve the right quality. It is important that we concentrate on producing gas from the smaller fields, because we still have enough Groningen gas to blend with it. The underground storage facilities at Langelo and Grijpskerk are a big help to NAM, because they enable production from the small fields to continue non-stop, even when gas demand is low.

Facts and figures

NAM produced in 2009 53,3 billion m³ of natural gas, of which 37,6 billion m³ (70%) comes from the Groningen field. Offshore gas production and the small onshore fields produce 15,7 billion m³.

The map below shows the locations where NAM holds gas and oil production concessions (a concession is a kind of licence issued by the government).

On the map below you can find the oil and gas in the Netherlands on the mainland and offshore. The blocks are called concessions, a license handed out by the government, for the exploration and production of natural oil and gas.

Facts and figures

Source: www.nlog.nl  (Or see the full version in Pdf, 720 Kb)

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