Groningen gas field

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Kaart Groningenveld — Map of production locations of the Groningen gas field. Source: https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2017-28922.html. Author: Overheid.nl.

name = Groningen gas field
country = Netherlands
region = Groningen (province)
location = The Southern Gas Basin in the Southern Permian Basin
discovery = 1959
start_development = 1959
start_production = 1963
abandonment = 2025-2028
peak_year = 1976
production_gas_mmcuft/d = 3300
production_gas_mmscm/d = 93
off or onshore = Overwhelmingly onshore
operator = Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM)
est_gas_bft = 100000
est_gas_bcm = 2800
formations = Slochteren Formation

Overview[]

The Groningen gas field is a natural gas field in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. With an estimated 2,740 billion cubic metres of recoverable natural gas it is the largest natural gas field in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

Geology[]

Geological Location[]

It is in Europe's Southern Permian Basin. The Groningen field lies within the Southern Permian Basin, which extends from the eastern coast of England to Poland. Within this area large volumes of gas have been discovered, mainly reservoired in the Rotliegend sandstone, with producing fields in England, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Poland. The Dutch part is located in the on-shore part of the Southern Gas Basin, the off shore part sharing a grid pattern with Germany.

Composition of Groningen gas[]

Composition of Groningen gas
Component	Vol%
Methane	81,30
Ethane	2,85
Propane	0,37
Butane	0,14
Pentane	0,04
Hexane	0,05
Dinitrogen	14,35
Oxygen	0,01
Carbon dioxide	0,89

History[]

Discovery[]

In 1948 the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), jointly owned by Shell and Esso, discovered a natural gas field in the Netherlands for the first time near Coevorden.

1970s[]

At its peak, the Groningen field had 29 extraction clusters. Spread over these clusters were approximately 300 gas wells. These are controlled from a control room in Sappemeer. Dutch gas fields lessened the impact of the 1970s energy crises on the Netherlands.

1990s[]

Output was increased with the introduction of new drilling methods that caused a major ongoing ground subsidence and earthquake issue in the province.

2020s[]

The Dutch government, Shell, NAM and Exxon ignored risks that it posed to Groningen for years as a 2022 report would reveal. The National Ombudsman called it a "national crisis" in 2021. The government's commission chief Tom van der Lee said that "The commission considers that the Netherlands has a debt of honour to Groningen,". The field was slated to close somewhere between 2025 and 2028.

Earthquakes[]

Over 1,600 quakes of up to 3.6 on the Richter scale had hit the province between 1986 and 2023, damaging some 85,000 buildings at least once, as of 2023 only 30% were made safe enough to live in once more.