Exploitation of natural gas in the Wadden Sea

Natural gas is being exploited at three places in the Dutch wadden region: on the Zuidwal location, west of Harlingen, in the dunes on Ameland and from the wadden coast by the Frisian Moddergat. In 2008, two drilling locations in the vicinity of Lauwers Lake (Vierhuizen and Lauwersoog) will be put into use. In the German Niedersachsen section of the wadden region, natural gas exploitation occurs in two places, namely in the Leybucht and in the Ems estuary. In Denmark and Hamburg, exploiting oil and gas in the protected areas of the wadden region are forbidden.

The Dutch government and mining companies had an agreement up to 1995 that wadden gas would not be explored or exploited. Since this agreement ended, the NAM began preparing new drillings in the area. Environmental organizations were very much opposed to the drilling. They were afraid for disturbance, accidents and subsidence of the tidal flats. At the end of 1999, a ban on gas exploitation was enforced, but the Advice Group Wadden Sea Policy (Meijer Committee) advised in 2004 to allow gas exploitation. The committee was established to give advice concerning gas exploitation and shellfish fisheries in relation to nature. When the report was published in 2004, it advised to reduce the cockle fisheries over a period of seven years and to allow gas exploitation. Instead of seven years, the cockle fisheries were already forbidden in the Wadden Sea in 2005. The Cabinet was positive to the advice. There is around 40 billion cubic meters of gas, which could earn up to 3 billion euros. It is possible that there is even more gas. Part of the profits will go to the Waddenfonds.

One condition for the new operations is that no drilling rigs are allowed in the Wadden Sea itself. The NAM drills the gas fields diagonally from the exploitation stations on the mainland. Another condition is that the tidal flats are not allowed to subside an unacceptable amount. Subsidence around the drilling locations will be precisely measured. If the bottom sinks more than 6 millimeters net per year, gas exploitation will be stopped. It is called: 'Drilling with the hand on the faucet'.

Gas exploitation as of 2007

The NAM requested licenses to exploit 25 to 40 billion cubic meters of gas under the Wadden Sea in 2006. In comparison, every year around twenty billion cubic meters is exploited in the North Sea and around 30 billion cubic meters in Slochteren (Groningen). The exploitation began in 2007 by Moddergat and will earn the government around ten billion euros in the next twenty years. The company wants to pump up two-thirds of the capacity of gas from the Moddergat in the first four years. In that way, the NAM hopes to hinder the Wadden Sea as little as possible and the sand transportation from the North Sea would be able to keep up with bottom subsidence. The existing gas exploitation from Ameland will gradually decline, after which exploitation from Moddergat can be intensified. The plan is to start exploiting from Vierhuizen in 2008 and from Lauwersoog later that year. The exploitation of 29 billion cubic meters will take twenty to thirty years. The NAM is capable of drilling for gas at a diagonal over a distance of nine kilometers maximum.

At the same time, an independent committee of experts play a role in judging the damage to nature. If there is any damage found, the government is authorized to slow down the exploitation or to stop it all together. An environmental effect report was made prior to the gas exploitation. It was concluded that the nature in the Wadden Se will not have problems with the exploitation, but field voles and therefore their predators Montagu's and marsh harriers, will be effected by the bottom subsidence in the Lauwersmeer. Their habitat threatens to be flooded.

A part of the profits from this natural gas will flow into the Wadden Funding, which will be used for nature protection, research and economic developments.

Gas under the tidal flats

Important gas reserves can be found under the Wadden Sea. In the 1970s and 1980s, exploration (search) and exploitation (extraction) of gas and oil in the wadden region was in full motion. Seismic studies were used to explore the oil and gas supplies and execute trial drills. During the seismic study, small underground explosions are made, the pressure waves are measured and processed into an image to give an underground profile. A drilling platform is built if a supply is found which is worthwhile to exploit (with a valid license). Pipelines are laid to transport the gas or oil. There are rules and regulations for all these activities in order to protect the environment as much as possible.

In October 1996, the NAM discovered actual gas in a sandstone layer four kilometers deep and around three kilometers off the coast of Lauwersoog. The gas was found when the NAM used a special (diagonal) drilling technique from Lauwersoog. The trial drilling lasted three months, and cost millions of euros. A trial drill from the Frisian coast in the Autumn of 1996 yield nothing.

It was the first confirmation of the NAM's assumption that more than 200 billion cubic meters of gas lies under the Wadden Sea. An average of 75 billion cubic meter of gas is equivalent to the total sales of the Gasunie (national usage and export) for a year.

Weblink

The site of the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM):
http://www.nam.nl

Source: de Vleet, Ecomare