The Dutch government yesterday declared the first (of three) levels of gas crisis – “Early Warning”, in connection with which, in particular, canceled all restrictions on electricity generation at coal-fired plants, and production at the Groningen gas field, which is planned to be closed due to a sharp increase in seismic activity, may remain longer than expected, follows from information on the government’s website.

Secretary of State for Economic Affairs and Climate Hans Wijlbrief told the country’s House of Representatives in a letter to the parliament that the field’s closure was imminent, but an exact date could not yet be set. “Because of all the uncertainties that still exist, I cannot now stipulate in the law that the Groningen field will be closed in 2023 or 2024,” Wijlbrief said in the letter, which is quoted on the government’s website.

Earlier it was planned to stop production at the field from April 2022, then, according to an estimate of the national gas transportation operator Gasunie Transport Services, it was assumed that production could be stopped no earlier than the 3rd quarter of 2023.

According to the government’s website, production from the Groningen field in the next gas year (October 2022-September 2023) is assumed to be 2.8 billion cubic meters (vs. 4.5 billion cubic meters in the current year).

“Groningenveld will only be needed as a reserve from October 1 this year and will therefore be on standby. This means that the production sites produce the minimum amount of gas to maintain availability, the so-called minimum flow rate,” Wijlbrief said in the letter.

At the same time, coal-fired power plants are again allowed to operate at full capacity, so that less gas will be needed for gas-fired power plants to produce electricity. “This reduces the risk of gas shortages and makes it easier to fill gas storage facilities in the Netherlands and Europe. The aim is to fill gas storage facilities in the Netherlands this year with more gas than has been agreed at European level,” the government said in a statement on its website.

“Gazprom (MCX:GAZP) has completely stopped supplying gas to GasTerra B.V. (Netherlands) since June 1 due to non-payment in rubles.

To compensate for the dropped supplies, the Dutch gas transportation company Gasunie is urgently building an LNG terminal in the port of Emshaven in the province of Groningen. Two floating regasification units have already been leased for its construction. They will be able to receive up to 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Both vessels are expected to be commissioned in the fall.

The Groningen field in the northern part of the Netherlands has been developed since 1963. Initial recoverable reserves are 2.9 trillion cubic meters of gas (this puts it in the top 15 largest gas fields in the world). The gas contains 81-83% methane and 14% nitrogen. The Netherlands ranked first in gas production in Europe until 1994, and was a net gas exporter until 2015. Groningen reached its peak production of 88 billion cubic meters in 1976.

The first officially registered earthquake in Groningen occurred in 1986. The strongest in the history of observations was the earthquake on August 16, 2012 with a magnitude of 3.6. Measures to reduce production, taken since 2013, did not help to reduce seismic activity – it only increased. In 2018, a decision was made to stop fishing in stages.