Groningen Gas Field
Recently, the Netherlands seeks to shut down Europe’s biggest gas field this year because of safety concerns.
About Groningen Gas Field:
- The Groningen gas field is natural in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands.
- It is the largest natural gas field in Europe.
- This region of Groningen in the Netherlands has a gas field that began operations in 1963.
- During the 1980s, the area saw numerous earthquakes – minor enough to avoid large damage but big enough for local buildings to develop cracks.
- Following these quakes, the Dutch government had earlier said that it would shutter the field in response to local protests.
- In Groningen, the ground subsiding has been caused by extraction alone over several years.
- Such extraction causes rocks to contract – as the pores get to hold fewer and fewer hydrocarbons over time.