Court rules against further curb to Groningen output

The Dutch council of state has ruled against suspending natural gas production from the Eemskanaal cluster of fields in the Groningen region.

Groningen residents had requested that the court halt production from the cluster, which they believe poses a significant security risk.

On 10 September, the court will hear the objections of 40 parties against the Dutch government’s January decision to cap 2015 Groningen production at 39.4 billion cubic metres (bcm). Dutch economy minister Henk Kamp has capped half year production at 16.5bcm, while the annual ceiling is being reviewed and a final decision will be made by 1 July. Kamp has said that total production should not exceed 36.4bcm this year.

On Friday, a judge ruled an interim suspension prior to the September hearing to be unnecessary, citing research by government monitoring agency the state supervision of mines that showed no link between reduced gas production in 2014 and reduced seismic activity in the same period. The residents failed to prove any “doubt as to the accuracy of the conclusions in the recommendation” from the state supervision of mines, the court said.

The judge also considered a recent drop in production from the cluster as a result of reduced extraction from the nearby Loppersum field in his interim ruling.

On 14 April, the court ordered a suspension of gas production from the Loppersum region except for at times when production from other regions is not possible or because of security of supply reasons.

According to field operator NAM, Loppersum production has totalled 1.12bcm in the first four months of 2015, accounting for 10% of total Groningen output. Eemskanaal production has totalled 0.54bcm in the same time, representing 5% of the 11.57bcm produced. Eemskanaal output is capped at 2bcm for 2015.

The Groningen field is the largest in Europe and produces low-calorific gas for consumption in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France. Reduced output so far in 2015 has boosted Dutch demand for high-calorific gas which can be blended with nitrogen to produce low-calorific gas. jake.horslen@icis.com