Netherlands Oil And Gas Profile
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Introduction
- The Netherlands is the largest producer of natural gas in the European Union. The Groningen Gas Field is amongst the 10 largest gas fields in the world and there are hundreds of small gas fields in the Netherlands subsurface.
- In 2011, The Netherlands was the 8th largest producer of Gas in the world.
- Oil reserves however are limited, despite the 44 discovered fields.
History
- 1959 - NAM discovered the famous Groningen Gas Field near Slochteren
- 1963 - Production started at the Groningen Gas Field
- 1967 - Enactment of the Mining Law - Continental Shelf
- 1969 - First offshore gas discoveries
Regulation
- In order to stimulate exploration, the Dutch government has a ‘small field policy’
- It guarantees offtake of the gas produced at small (mainly) offshore fields, whereas the Groningen field is used as swing producer mainly, produced during high demand winter peaks.
- This means that small gas fields do not compete with Groningen, thus increasing sector activity and extending the life of the Groningen field
Upstream
- The remaining proven reserves in Dutch gas fields amounts to 1230 mld Sm3 (bcm) per January 1st 2012. Of these reserves 900 bcm are in the large Groningen Gas Field and 330 in all other fields, the so called small fields.
- Currently, 250 gas fields are in production (107 on the Dutch onshore and the rest on the Dutch part of the North Sea Continental Shelf). In 2011 eight successful exploration wells added a total of 6.0 bcm to the reserves.
- The total natural gas production in 2011 was 78,6 bcm, 49.4 bcm of which came from the Groningen field, 9.6 bcm from the onshore small fields and 19.6 from the Dutch offshore small fields.
Active Companies
- Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM) is a joint venture between Shell & Exxon and is the bigger player
- International players such as Total, Centrica, GDF Suez also have significant poisitions
Crude Oils
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Midstream
- There are a number of important offshore pipelines that connect production platforms to processing plants and customers
- There are also connections between the Netherlands and Denmark, Norway & UK pipeline networks
LNG
- The only LNG Terminal in the Netherlands is Gate Lng Terminal which was commissioned in 2011
Downstream
- The Rotterdam area is a major trade and processing centre, home to a number of refineries as well as many terminals. Europe's largest refinery Shell Pernis Refinery is located here as is the Botlek Refinery, the BP Rotterdam Refinery, Europoort Refinery and Koch HC Partnership Refinery.
- The Vlissingen Refinery is located in Zeeland
Relevant Links
- Netherlands, Oil and Gas Portal
- EIA, Energy Statistics
- Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV
- PLATFORMS, Netherlands Continental Shelf
- Gas Licence Areas Netherlands Continental Shelf
- Gas Licence Areas Netherlands Territory
- Oil Licence Areas Netherlands
page revision: 12, last edited: 18 Jun 2015 06:03