Slochteren natural gas field
Posted by: 
eikenboom
N 53° 10.284 E 006° 45.414
32U E 350071 N 5893688
the largest natural gas field in The Netherlands
Waymark Code: WMWP50
Location: Groningen, Netherlands
Date Posted: 09/25/2017
Views: 4
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.
After 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 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), discovered the huge 2.8 trillion cubic meters (100 trillion cubic feet) gas field in the porous Rotliegend sandstone formation, which is 130 metres (430 ft) to 140 metres (460 ft) thick and 45 kilometres (28 mi) long from north to south by 25 kilometres (16 mi) 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. As of 2009 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.
After demonstrations in Groningen because of the increase in induced earthquakes, whose event count shows an exponential growth in time, the Dutch government decided on January 17, 2014 to cut output from the gas field and pay those affected by the earthquake a compensation worth 1.2 billion Euro, spread over a period of 5 years. The ministry said production would be cut in 2014 and 2015 to 42.5 bcm and in 2016 to 40 bcm.
The State Supervision of Mines has brought forward that the production level should be cut back to 30 bcm to avoid the more severe quakes. Although it is technically possible to reduce Groningen's output to this level and still meet domestic demand, the ministry keeps production high (currently[when?] 39.4 bcm per year). Groningen officials are not satisfied with the measures. As of January 2015, no houses have been reinforced, nothing has been done about many seriously damaged buildings, and the risk of severe quakes, possibly resulting in collapsed buildings, injuries and death, is still too high. In June 2016, the Netherlands' National Mines Inspectorate advised the Dutch Government to reduce production even further to 24 bcm per year. On September 23, 2016, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed that gas extraction from the northern Groningen gas field will be held at 24 bcm per year for the coming five years.
(source: Wikipedia)
The field itself is not readily accessible, but there are signs that explain the field, the gas etc. This is where I have located this waymark.
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To post a visit log to this waymark you need to visit and write about the actual physical location. Any pictures you take at the location would be great, as well.