Netherlands may reopen Groningen gas field

The Netherlands may reopen Europe’s largest gas field, Groningen, where there are enough unused reserves to replace most of the fuel supplied from Russia for some EU countries this winter, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

Groningen has been a mainstay of Europe’s gas supplies since 1963. Even after a half-century, there’s still about 450 billion cubic meters of extractable gas in reserve - worth around $1 trillion.

More critical, there’s room to extract around 50 billion cubic meters per year more than is flowing at present, according to Shell Plc, one of the two major partners involved in operating it.

Dutch mining minister Hans Vijlbrief says that it’s dangerous to keep producing but that the country can’t ignore suffering elsewhere in Europe. A lack of gas “could force us to make that decision,” he says, adding that it could be a safety issue if hospitals, schools, and homes can’t be heated properly.

European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a recent speech that the Netherlands should reconsider its decision to close Groningen, and Vijlbrief has been pressed by counterparts from other EU nations as well, but the country is holding the line for now.