Netherlands upholds gas production limits at EU’s biggest field
By ANNA SHIRYAEVSKAYA and KELLY GILBLOM
Bloomberg
The Netherlands kept a limit for how much gas can be extracted next year from Europe’s biggest deposit in the north of the country that is blamed for earthquakes.
The government will adhere to the limit set by a court last month that the output in the 12 months through September should be cut by another 18%, while long-term output will be decided on by October next year, it said Friday in a statement. UK gas for summer 2016 fell to a record, while next-month contracts in the Netherlands slid as much as 1.9%.
Production at the Groningen field fell 30% in the first 11 months of the year after cuts imposed earlier, according to Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij, or NAM, a Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil venture that operates the field.
Dutch gas for front-month delivery fell as much as 1.9% to 15.40 euros ($16.70) per megawatt-hour on the Title Transfer Facility hub, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. UK summer 2016 contracts fell as much as 2.2% to 31.55 pence/therm.
The Netherlands has progressively limited production at Groningen, which also supplies Germany, Belgium and France, as residents argue that production should be halted to ensure their safety. The caps made the European Union’s biggest natural gas producer a net importer of the fuel, reliant on gas purchases from Norway, Russia, Algeria or Qatar.
The Council of State said Nov. 18 that output from Groningen should be temporarily limited to 27 billion cubic meters (950 billion cubic feet) for the year from Oct. 1. That’s about 6% of expected European Union gas use this year.
The output may be raised to 33 billion cubic meters, the cap set by Kamp in June if the gas year that started Oct. 1 is “relatively cold,” according to the ruling.
The Economy Ministry in June cut this year’s output target to 30 billion cubic meters from an original plan for 39.4 billion.
The maximum volume allowed was 33 billion, but this included an option to withdraw 3 billion from a storage site not operational for some time last year.
- Gasum powers Equinor's platform supply vessel with bio-LNG
- ADNOC deploys pioneering AI-enabled process optimization technology
- Mexico Pacific announces long-term LNG SPA with POSCO International
- ONEOK to acquire Medallion and controlling interest in EnLink for $5.9 B
- Golar LNG signs EPC deal for $2.2-B MK II FLNG conversion project
Comments