Groningen Back In The News With An Update -- October 7, 2019

For previous posts on Netherlands' Groningen natural gas field, click here.

Bottom line:

• Groningen: supplies in the neighborhood of about 50% of all natural gas used by "Europe"
• earthquakes affecting the Netherlands; local folks want natural gas production from Groningen halted
• some years ago, maybe in the 2014 time frame, plans were to gradually draw down and eventually end natural gas production from the Groningen by 2030
• then the bombshell earlier this year; Groningen would shut down eight years earlier than planned; by 2022 or thereabouts
• now, we are hearing that the Dutch have no Plan B

An update at Reuters:

The Dutch government said it would not increase production at small gas fields in the Netherlands to compensate for halting production at Groningen in coming years.

The Netherlands said this month it would halt production at Groningen, Europe's largest onshore natural gas field, by 2022, eight years earlier than initially planned.

Economic Affairs Minister Eric Wiebes informed parliament on Friday that "the ending of gas extraction at Groningen in 2022 with not lead to higher production at 240 small gas fields in the Netherlands," a statement said. "The volume will in fact decrease."

In other words, no Plan B.