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 THE
NETHERLANDS
North West Europe
The Netherlands overlies the gas-prone Southern Gas Basin
within which lies the onshore giant Groningen field, in the northwest of
the country – the largest gas accumulation in Europe.
 Onshore
gas production began in 1953 but it picked up rapidly in the 1960s after
Groningen came onstream. Around 45% of gas output now comes from
offshore fields, which has progressively increased since 1970. There are
53 modest-sized gas accumulations producing into over 100 simple steel
platforms plus a number of subsea completions.
Gas production has tended to fluctuate in recent years,
depending on demand (usually led by weather conditions) in Europe. The
Netherlands has substantial Underground Storage Facilities to cope with
swing capacity. Compared to gas, oil production in the Netherlands is
limited. The Netherlands has two production peaks; the first in the
mid-1960s was derived from onshore fields comparable to those in
Germany; the second in 1986 came from development of the North Sea,
which has sustained oil production through to the present day.
 Many of the early discoveries are in decline and in
general over the last few years new finds offshore have struggled to
offset production falls. Onshore in the south near the coast there have
been recent successes but these are of a limited size. There is also
still some oil production near the German border.
Offshore oil production began in 1982. Ten oilfields,
most of which are in decline, produce offshore and one has been
abandoned. However, some prospects remain and perhaps as much oil is
left as has been produced. New output from the F2a field led to a jump
in production in 2002. The Netherlands also produces some NGLs.
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