Natural gas output at Europe's largest onshore L-cal gas field, Groningen in the Netherlands, fell by half in Gas Year 19 as production quotas at the field became progressively stricter, the latest data from operator NAM showed.
Gas production at Groningen's remaining active fields (Zuidwest, Zuidoost, Loppersum, Centraal-Oost, Eemskanaal and Bierum) in GY-19 (October 2019-September 2020) totaled 8.65 Bcm, NAM data showed.
This is significantly below the 17.51 Bcm of gas extracted at the field in GY-18.
Output at the field in GY-19 was 3.15 million cu m below its full-year quota of 11.8 Bcm/year.
GY-19 output is well on track to match the newly revised GY-20 output quota, which has been further lowered to 8.1 Bcm in order to curtail the probability of earthquakes, according to a letter to the parliament from Eric Wiebes, the minister for economic affairs and climate.
The newly imposed quota is expected to reduce the probability of a quake of magnitude 3.6 or higher striking the location from 12.5% to less than 5%, according to previous estimates by Dutch mining regulator SodM.
Year-on-year drops in production were very much expected due to the increasingly rapid phasing-out of gas extraction, which was found to have triggered earthquakes.
A complete phase-out of the field is set for mid-2022, though in the event of a harsh winter, output could continue and the field be closed "at a later time."
Output at the Groningen Loppersum field stopped in March 2018, while production at Eemskanaal continued to fade to just 6,800 cu m in July.
In order to reach zero production more quickly, the economy ministry has put forward a number of new initiatives, with the use of nitrogen to convert imported H-gas into Groningen standard L-gas playing a key role.
The tremors now taking place are the result of 60 years of gas extraction at Groningen, and will continue for an unknown period even after the field has closed.
