Groningen To Ramp Down More Steeply: Minister
The Netherlands' giant gas field, Groningen, will produce less than 5bn m3/yr in a typical year from 2023, economy minister Eric Wiebes told parliament in a letter December 3.
"Measures for the reduction of Groningen gas production are well ahead of schedule. From 2023, production level will decrease in an average year to less than 5bn m3/yr after which the end of Groningen gas production is in sight," the minister wrote; he had already committed in March to end all Groningen production by 2030.
The country's largest gas field produced 54bn m³ in 2013 but was halved to 27bn m³ in 2015 because of concerns for nearby residents about earthquakes caused by gas production, with the annual cap progressively reduced since. For the gas year starting October 2018, the cap is 19.4bn m3 which means the new 2023 level will represent a reduction of about 75%.
A new nitrogen plant at Zuidbroek will be available from 2022, the minister wrote in his December 3 letter. Nitrogen is used to lower the calorific content of imported, and Dutch offshore, high-calorific gas, so that it can be used by Dutch low-calorific (L-gas) users. The new plant will reduce the need to extract from the Groningen field by 7bn m3 in the year starting October 2022, the minister wrote. He had promised in March 2018 to end production there as quickly as possible.
Wiebes also said December 3 that the largest consumers of L-Gas – nine firms that each consume more than 0.1bn m3/yr – will have to switch to H-gas by October 2022: "Arrangements have already been made with a number of these companies about the conversion." Nearer term, he said that by 2019 the availability of more bought-in nitrogen and H-gas will reduce the need for Groningen production by 1- to 1.5bn m3/yr, adding that the phase out of L-gas exports to Germany was "progressing well".
Back in March 2018, the government promised to halt all Groningen production by 2030 and cited an intermediate production level in 2023 of around 7.5bn m3/yr in the gas year starting October 2022. But even then, it hinted 2023 production might be "possibly considerably less". The information provided by Wiebes this week now confirms a much steeper ramp-down.