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Groningen gas output could be higher than planned for final year

Gas extraction at the Groningen field in the Netherlands is likely to be higher than previously announced this year, its last year of regular production, the Dutch government said on Tuesday.

Groningen output was to be cut roughly in half to 3.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) in the year to the end of September 2022.

However, production will probably be higher because of a delay in the building of a nitrogen facility needed to convert imported high-calorific gas into the low-calorific type delivered by Groningen, said economy minister Stef Blok.

Blok did not predict by how much production could rise, but he said output is not expected to reach the 7.8 bcm produced in the year to the start of last month.

The nitrogen facility is expected to be ready by August, four months later than previously planned but in time to halt Groningen production before next October, Blok added.

A main source of gas for Europe for decades, the Groningen field operated by a joint venture between Shell RDSa.L and Exxon Mobil XOM.N hit peak output of 88 bcm in 1976 and was still close to 30 bcm only five years ago.

The Dutch state announced in 2019 that Groningen output would end by mid-2022 to limit seismic risks in the region, with gas only to be extracted thereafter in the event of extreme weather, for which a few sites will remain on standby.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by David Goodman)

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