Planned production cuts to the Europe’s largest gas field is to cost the Dutch state-run Enrgie Beheer Nederlands $5billion over the life of the field as well as cause the continent to look elsewhere for supply, according to analysts Wood Mackenzie. Groningen has been a major global asset for operators Shell, ExxonMobil and Energie Beheer Nederlands.
There have been a series of powerful earthquakes in recent years around the Groningen field brought on by gas mining, with a tremor last month registering 3.4 magnitude – the most powerful to hit since 2012.
Yesterday the Staatstoezicht op de Mijnen (SoDM) mining association recommending the Ministry of Economic Affairs imposes an output cap of 12 billion cubic metres (bcm) annually over the next four years in the interests of safety.
The limit represents an annual cut of nearly half from the last cap of 21.6 bcm, and a drop of around 70% since the first cap was imposed in 2014.