News item | 15-07-2022 | 4:00 pm
The war in Ukraine has made it clear that the Netherlands is too dependent on gas imports. State Secretary Vijlbrief is therefore taking measures to promote the security of gas supply by slowing down the decline in gas production in the North Sea. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate is speeding up its permit procedures for current and new permits as much as possible, without making the conditions more flexible. More gas extraction in the North Sea is part of the broader government policy, together with energy conservation and the accelerated development of sustainably generated energy.
This acceleration in the North Sea provides extra gas in both the short and long term. The Ministry of Economic Affairs expects that in the short term (1 to 3 years) an additional 1 billion m3 of gas can be produced per year. In the longer term (over 5 years) it can provide an extra production of 2 to 4 billion m3 per year. These are substantial amounts. Especially if you realize that in 2021 40 billion m3 per year was used in the Netherlands and 12.7 billion m3 produced from the small fields (that does not include production from the Groningen field). The extra production is valid for a period of 10 years; the expectation is that the fields will then be empty. Increasing gas production in the North Sea will also help us fill our gas storage facilities.
Climate goals
In line with the climate agreements made, the importance of natural gas will decrease rapidly in the coming years. But it will take time to fully transition to a fully sustainable energy system. This means that natural gas will remain necessary for the foreseeable future. Extracting gas in the North Sea not only has the advantage that the Netherlands becomes less dependent on foreign gas, but it is also better for the environment to extract gas close to home. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with natural gas production and transport from Dutch small fields are much lower than the emissions of imported gas.
Permits
The conditions that a permit must meet will not be relaxed, only the process will become more efficient. The main priority remains that gas extraction must take place safely and responsibly for people, nature and the environment. Because there are many different types of permits, it is difficult to estimate how much time will be gained for all permits. In some exceptional cases, the current permitting process takes 5 or 6 years. That is no longer the case from now on. In the future, we will grant as many permits as possible from exploration to extraction within 3 years.
It is also examined whether additional employees with the required specialist expertise can be hired. Due to the shortage on the labor market, the State Secretary wants to train employees internally to become mining permit granters. Because it takes about two years before they are fully trained, Vijlbrief wants to hire extra capacity for the short term and it is being investigated whether the ministry can collaborate with Environmental Services to support the permitting process.
North Sea program 2022-2027
Acceleration of gas extraction in the North Sea must take place safely and responsibly for people, nature and the environment. For example, there is the North Sea 2022-2027 Programme. This program focuses on achieving sustainable and safe use of the North Sea and contributes to the social, economic and ecological objectives of the Netherlands. The North Sea Program is part of the National Water Program 2022-2027.