In the Netherlands, the first level of the gas crisis was announced on June 20, after which the Gas Protection and Recovery Plan (Bescherm- en Herstelplan Gas, BH-G) came into force. From July 8, 2022, the Ministry of Economy and Climate has started publishing weekly updates on how much gas is produced, consumed and stored in the Netherlands. On July 15, the Ministry of Economy announced an increase in gas production in the North Sea.
Gas supply reviews
Information about the state of gas supply in the Netherlands will now be publicly available. On the page Rijksoverheid.nl/gas and on social media, the government will post a summary reflecting the weekly progress of gas storage filling, total gas consumption in the Netherlands, gas supplies to Europe and gas prices in Europe over the past week. Gas companies are now required to share detailed information on gas supplies with the government on a daily basis.
Russia is currently supplying much less gas to Europe than before, leading to further increases in energy prices and an increased risk of gas shortages. High prices and concerns about the energy market affect everyone. In particular, we recently shared information that municipalities (gemeente) are experiencing difficulties in concluding new contracts for the supply of natural gas. Under such circumstances, the Ministry of Economy and Climate decided to share information about the gas situation in the Netherlands and Europe on a systematic basis. An update will be posted every Friday morning.
What now?
Currently, the supply of Russian gas through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline has been stopped due to scheduled maintenance. Maintenance is scheduled from 11 to 21 July. As a result, there is less gas in NW Europe. Prices are still high.
Gas production in the North Sea
The war in Ukraine has shown that the Netherlands is too dependent on gas imports. So Secretary of State Hans Vijlbrief is taking action to increase gas production in the North Sea. The Ministry of Economy and Climate is speeding up the procedures for issuing relevant permits as much as possible.
The Ministry of Economy expects North Sea gas production to provide additional gas in both the short and long term:
- in the short term (from 1 to 3 years), it will be possible to produce an additional 1 billion m³ of gas per year;
- in the long term (more than 5 years) - from 2 to 4 billion m³ per year.
These are solid volumes, especially considering that consumers in the Netherlands used 2021 bcm of gas in 40. Of these, 12,7 billion m³ was produced at small fields (this does not include production at the Groningen field).
Climate targets
Under climate agreements, the importance of natural gas will decline rapidly in the coming years. But the full transition to the new energy system will take time, which means that the need for natural gas will continue for the foreseeable future.
The advantage of producing gas from the North Sea is not only that the Netherlands is becoming less dependent on foreign gas, but that producing gas close to home is better for the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction and transportation of natural gas from small fields in the Netherlands are much lower than those from imported gas.
Obtaining permits for gas production
The requirements for obtaining permits will not be relaxed, but the process of obtaining permits will become more efficient. Now obtaining permits takes 5-6 years, but in the future, the relevant state authorities will issue permits for exploration and gas production within 3 years. For this, the possibility of hiring additional employees with the necessary special knowledge is analyzed.
Gas production must be carried out safely for people and the environment. In particular, there is a program for the sustainable and safe use of the North Sea for 2022–2027 (part of the National Water Program for 2022–2027). This program will certainly be taken into account when planning gas production on the North Sea shelf.
Publication Date: 02.08.2022
