Dutch gas reserves could exhaust in nine years
Gas reserves in the Netherlands, in the event of further production of blue fuel at the same level, will be completely depleted in nine years, if not earlier – as warned by the Statistics Netherlands (CBS), TASS reports
According to the CBS, last year the Netherlands produced 16.1 billion cubic metres of gas from various fields. In turn, the total explored reserves today are estimated at 142 billion cubic metres. The statistical office explained that this refers to ‘small deposits on land and in the North Sea’.
This figure does not include the Groningen deposit – the largest in the Netherlands. It has been extracting blue fuel since 1963, and at its peak in 2013 it produced at least 50 billion cubic metres of gas, but the authorities decided to completely stop its development due to tremors caused by fuel extraction. Last year, it produced just over 2 billion cubic metres of gas. This year, the production of blue fuel at it will be stopped, and next year it should be completely closed.
At least 127,000 of the region’s 327,000 homes were damaged by earthquakes, according to the Groningen Institute, which assesses damage from mining operations. The authorities had previously approved a plan to pay compensation to local residents affected by the tremors. The total amount of compensation will be €22bn over the next thirty years.
