Groningen gas field 1.58

The Groningen gas field is a giant natural gas field located near Slochteren in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. Discovered in 1959, it is the largest natural gas field in Europe and the tenth-largest in the world.HistoryAfter two previous unsuccessful wells were commissioned to search for oil and gas, on 22 July 1959, the Slochteren 1 well, drilling to a depth of 3000m, discovered the huge 2.8 trillion cubic meters (100 trillion cubic feet) gas field in the porous Rotliegend sandstone formation, which is 130m to 140m thick and 45km long from north to south by 25km long from east to west. The field started production in 1963 and produced around 100 billion cubic meters (3.57 trillion cubic feet) per year in the first decade of production but gradually the annual production fell to around 35 billion cubic meters (1.25 trillion cubic feet) per year. the Groningen gas field has produced around 1,700 billion cubic meters (60.7 trillion cubic feet) which represents 60% of the total reserves of the field but the remaining 1,100 billion cubic meters (39.3 trillion cubic feet) are expected to last for another 50 years.The Groningen gas field is operated by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM), a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil with each company owning a 50% share. The field accounts for 50% of the natural gas production in the Netherlands, the other 50% being supplied by around 300 smaller gas fields, most of them located offshore in the North Sea.