Groningen Gas Field

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.

The gas field was discovered in 1959 near Slochteren, in the northeast of the Netherlands. The subsequent extraction of natural gas became central to the energy supply in the Netherlands. Virtually the entire country was connected to Groningen gas in the following years. Revenue from natural gas production became important in the post-war development and construction of the Dutch welfare state. As of 2013, 2,057 billion cubic metres of natural gas had been extracted from the field.

Gas extraction resulted in subsidence above the field. From 1991, this was also accompanied by earthquakes, which led to damage to houses and unrest among residents. It was decided to phase out gas extraction from 2014 onwards. The reinforcement operation and damage settlement as a result of the earthquakes are progressing slowly. The National Ombudsman called this a "national crisis" in 2021.

In June 2023, the Dutch government announced that extraction from the field would cease by 1 October 2023. Approximately 450 billion cubic metres of gas are thought to remain in the field as of 2023.

History

Discovery

Natural gas was initially mainly a by-product of petroleum, which was more economically attractive. In 1948, the (NAM), jointly owned by Shell and Esso, discovered a natural gas field in the Netherlands for the first time near Coevorden. This gave rise to the expectation that more natural gas fields could be found in the Netherlands. In the north and east of the country they searched for gas fields, including near the later Groningen gas field. In 1954 and 1955, drilling at Haren and yielded nothing. On 24 October 1955, when seeking oil at Thesinge, natural gas was found in the Zechstein formation, but they drilled 40 to 50 meters too little to discover the Groningen gas field.

On 29 May 1959, the NAM started exploratory research on land owned by farmer Kees Boon, near Kolham in the municipality of Slochteren. Two months later on July 22, the drilling led to the discovery of natural gas for the first time. Initially it received little media attention, because little was known about the field's size at the time. The flaring did attract local attention. The fact that it was a large gas field became clear when gas was found near Delfzijl in 1960. The properties of that natural gas matched those of Slochteren, so had to be the same gas field. These findings about the size were initially kept secret, also from NAM shareholder Esso.

The size was not made public until 14 October 1960. A Belgian newspaper reported on a speech by Belgian Member of the European Parliament Victor Leemans, in which he mentioned that the Netherlands had found a gas field of 300 billion m³. The cabinet responded to parliamentary questions that a large amount of natural gas had indeed been found, but kept it at 60 billion m³. Behind closed doors, it was then estimated at a maximum of 100 billion m³.

Concession

After the discovery, NAM applied for the concession for the field. At the initiative of Esso employee Douglass Stewart, NAM planned to sell the gas directly to households. The Dutch government had previously committed itself to purchasing all natural gas extracted in the Netherlands. The size of the Groningen gas field made this promise financially untenable. Minister of Economic Affairs Jan de Pous entered into negotiations with NAM about gas extraction. Shell and Esso initially wanted a substantial majority share in the extraction and sale, to the disapproval of De Pous. On the other hand, the Labour Party wanted a greater role for the government. Member of Parliament Anne Vondeling argued for complete nationalization. After more than a year and a half of negotiations, De Pous sent his plan to the Tweede Kamer on 17 July 1962. This regulated the tasks of various parties, with this division of tasks and responsibilities later becoming known as the '.

It was decided to regulate the exploitation of the Groningen field in the ''Maatschap Groningen'' (Groningen Partnership). In this partnership, the Dutch government, through the (later DSM and EBN), had a 40% interest and NAM had a 60% interest. The decision to create a partnership was intended to conceal the fact that the Dutch government participated in natural gas extraction. With this they tried, among other things, to prevent sheikhs in the Middle East from following the Dutch example of also claiming profits from Shell and Esso, who extracted oil there. At that time, the deliberate avoidance of transparency was already criticized by, among others, the Minister of Justice Albert Beerman.

In the plan, the foundations were also laid for the establishment of the Gasunie. 10% of its shares were directly owned by the Dutch state, 40% by the ''Staatsmijnen'' and 50% shared by Shell and Esso. The Gasunie was given the task of laying a pipeline network to connect the whole of the Netherlands to Groningen gas. In cities where town gas was already being used, the existing pipes were used. In December 1968, it was celebrated that Egmond aan Zee was the last municipality to be connected to Groningen natural gas.

A Cooperation Agreement was signed on 4 March 1963 by the Staatsmijnen, NAM, Shell and Esso. In this agreement, further agreements were written down between the parties. On 30 May 1963 the concession was then granted to NAM.

Resistance

The plans were largely supported by the Dutch House of Representatives. Only the Groningen Member of Parliament noted that gas extraction in the United States and Italy had led to subsidence. According to De Pous this was not the case with the Groningen gas field and this would otherwise be reimbursed by the NAM and Staatsmijnen. In an article in the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, engineer Willem Meiborg warned on 8 November 1963 about subsidence. He predicted subsidence of up to one meter. He asked to set aside money for the consequences. Publicly, NAM denied Meiborg's prediction, but secretly ordered an investigation. The investigation confirmed that subsidence could occur, as much as 1.5 meters. The research was shared with the province of Groningen, but was not made public. It only became public when D66 Member of Parliament Jan Terlouw found out about the research in 1972 and asked parliamentary questions about it.

On paper, the discovery of the gas field made Groningen the richest region in the Netherlands. Some in Groningen were pleased with the jobs created by gas extraction. Others thought that the economically disadvantaged province was not benefiting enough from the extraction. The natural gas revenues flowed into the national budget, which created the sentiment that Groningen was being used as a ', roughly meaning "exploitation territory" or an area exploited for resources without any beneficial returns. Prominently, CPN politician Fré Meis from Groningen complained about what he regarded as injustice. Between 1972 and 1980, the CPN therefore organized four instances of a to draw attention to this. This sentiment returned regularly in the decades that followed.

Small fields policy

Until 1959, it had been assumed that the North Sea had no natural gas and oil. This opinion changed after the discovery of the Groningen gas field. In the decade after the discovery they successfully searched for fields in the North Sea.

Initially it was expected that nuclear energy would eventually replace the use of natural gas. Efforts were made to sell natural gas as quickly as possible, both at home and abroad. In the mid-1970s, this policy was revised after the oil crisis of 1973 and the great social resistance to the deployment of nuclear energy. That is why the desire arose to keep the Groningen gas field as a reserve. Therefore, the small fields policy was introduced in 1974. The aim of this policy was to extract more natural gas from smaller fields, including in the North Sea, to limit the production in the Groningen gas field. Because small fields entailed higher operating costs, the Dutch government reduced its profit share to make exploitation more attractive.

Earthquakes

The first earthquake induced by a Dutch natural gas field occurred in 1986 near Assen, induced by the Eleveld gas field. Local politician argued that there was a connection between gas extraction in the Groningen field and the earthquake. On 4 December 1991, the first induced earthquake of the Groningen field was measured, with a magnitude of 2.4 on the Richter scale. In 1993, after research, NAM recognized a link between earthquakes and gas extraction. In the following decades, the number of induced earthquakes increased. Along with the earthquakes, resistance against gas extraction also increased. For example, the was founded in 2009 in response to the .

According to a 2015 report by the Dutch Safety Board

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