A dying industry comes back to life out of nowhere: gas extraction in the North Sea. At the beginning of June, the cabinet announced that gas extractor ONE-Dyas may start drilling for gas in a new field above Schiermonnikoog. This will bring extraction at sea back on track, after large gas companies such as BP and NAM sold their fields in recent years or put them up for sale.
For years, ONE-Dyas waited for a permit for the field that was discovered in 2017 under the Dutch and German North Sea. The Netherlands agreed, but the German state of Lower Saxony withdrew it for environmental reasons. Because of the war in Ukraine, the Germans changed their mind and the permit was finally obtained, because the eastern neighbors want to quickly become independent from Russian gas. ONE-Dyas expects to be able to supply gas from the new field in the winter of 2024.
The German turnaround seems to foreshadow a revival of North Sea gas, but nature organizations and the Wadden Islands have serious objections.
In the past sixty years, there has never been a problem with gas shortages in the Netherlands, thanks to the gas in Groningen. There was enough gas to heat all Dutch households and to keep the industry going. In addition, the Netherlands earned billions from gas exports to Northwestern Europe. But due to the earthquakes in Groningen, gas extraction has been drastically reduced in recent years. The safety of the residents can no longer be guaranteed, which is why the Groningen gas field will go on ‘the pilot light’ this autumn, which means that production will virtually stop and only increase in absolute emergencies.
Due to the high gas prices, there is a call for more gas from the Groningen field. There is still at least 450 billion cubic meters of natural gas underground. That is good for more than ten years’ worth of Dutch gas demand: Dutch households and industry consume roughly 40 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Hospitals in the cold
But the cabinet is resolute: extra gas from Groningen will only be called upon if there really is no other option. “If people in hospitals or schools are out in the cold, it can come into the picture. Not before,” said State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief (Mining, D66) recently in the House of Representatives. It doesn’t seem to be getting that far for the time being.
Meanwhile, gas prices remain high – five times what they were a year ago – and the war in Ukraine is putting pressure on supplies of foreign gas. This month, Russia announced that it would stop part of the gas supplies to the Netherlands.
That is why the Netherlands is looking everywhere for alternatives: ships with expensive liquid gas (LNG) moor in and out in Rotterdam and soon also in Eemshaven in Groningen. Gas will come from Norway and a new nitrogen factory will be built in Zuidbroek in Groningen that can convert foreign gas into Dutch gas. And the cabinet wants to quickly extract extra gas from the North Sea.
Besides the enormous gas field in Groningen, the Netherlands has about 250 small gas fields that are in production, 150 of which are located in the North Sea. Each year, these offshore fields produce about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas, accounting for about a quarter of the Dutch gas requirement. But, says gas expert René Peters of research institute TNO, “each year gas production decreases by one billion cubic meters because gas fields are running out. If we do nothing, the gas production at sea will be finished in ten to fifteen years.”
While, according to TNO estimates, about 80 billion cubic meters of natural gas can still be extracted under the North Sea. That gas has already been found. And there may be much more. Estimates go up to 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas, says Peters.
Zero new gas fields
And that’s the crux of the matter, because just think of that 200 billion in extra gas. For decades, about four new gas fields were found every year, but in 2019 there were zero for the first time. “You can say that gas extraction in the North Sea was dying,” says Peters. Major players such as BP and NAM announced their departure, fields became increasingly empty and companies invested less money in the search for new gas fields, which went from 1 billion euros to about 100 million euros per year.
But with the extraction in the gas field above Schiermonnikoog, which was discovered in 2017, the industry is coming back to life. Gas extractor ONE-Dyas thinks that approximately 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas can be extracted. Starting with about 2 billion cubic meters per year from the winter of 2024. “That is about five percent of the annual Dutch gas requirement,” says spokesperson Corine Toussaint of ONE-Dyas. “But we expect that there will still be about 50 to 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the surrounding fields.” That is what the company wants to look for in the future.
The field above Schiermonnikoog is one of the larger fields in the North Sea, says Peters. Together with TNO, he calculated that the small fields at sea and on land could together produce an additional 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas within two years and an additional 4 billion cubic meters per year within five years.
But that the gas price would go down with that extra Dutch production is “a myth”, says Peters. The gas demand worldwide is about 3,000 billion cubic meters, of which Europe uses 500 billion. “Then you will not influence the gas price with 4 billion cubic meters from the small fields,” says Peters.
Nevertheless, Peters thinks the extra extraction in the North Sea is sensible. “You don’t have to import every cubic meter that we produce ourselves. A cubic meter from our own soil yields one euro, while otherwise you have to buy that cubic meter for one euro.”
Mordic against the plans
The Wadden Islands are “strongly” against the plans for gas extraction above Schiermonnikoog, says mayor of the island Ineke van Gent (GroenLinks). “The vulnerability of the area is increasing,” she says, referring to the wind farms, passing container ships, energy cables and gas extraction in the area. The mayor of the German Wadden island of Borkum is also concerned. He fears that the seabed will collapse if the gas is extracted from the ground.
And in their resistance, the mayors are supported by the environmental organization the Waddenvereniging. This is striking, because this field is geographically located in the North Sea, about twenty kilometers above Schiermonnikoog and Borkum. And not in the Wadden Sea, where governments are reluctant to drill for gas and oil because of the UNESCO World Heritage status. “But,” says Frank Petersen of the Waddenvereniging, “it is the front delta of the Wadden Sea, the North Sea and the Wad are communicating vessels.”
As a nature reserve, the Wadden Sea is extra vulnerable to sea level rise or subsidence. “The Wadden Sea is shallow and dries up twice a day. If the sea level rises, the Wadden Sea will lose those unique characteristics,” says Petersen.
Although ONE-Dyas expects to be able to pump up the first gas from the new field in two years’ time, this is not yet completely certain. The municipality of Schiermonnikoog and environmental organizations such as the Waddenvereniging do not rule out going to court. “We want to preserve the Wadden Sea World Heritage today, tomorrow and in the future, that’s what we fight for,” said Mayor Van Gent.
Also read: In the Frisian Ternaard they fear Groningen situations
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of 13 June 2022