The Netherlands plans to end gas production at the large Groningen field next year, the Dutch government recently confirmed. Output at Groningen will be cut by more than 50% to 3.9 Bcm in the year through October 2022, which will be the last year of regular production. The recent runup in natural gas prices has not impacted the state’s plans.
The Dutch government originally announced Groningen would shutter by mid-2022 to limit seismic risks in the region but left the possibility of emergency production in the event of extreme weather conditions from select sites.
To keep these sites operational, around 1.5 Bcm of gas will be produced on a yearly basis, until a main gas storage site can be switched to the use of imported low-calorific gas instead of the high-calorific gas Groningen delivers.
The government wants the conversion to happen quickly, but originally thought it would not happen until between 2025 and 2028.
Discovered in 1959, the Groningen field is run by Shell and ExxonMobil joint venture NAM.