The history of development and features of gas industry in Norway and the Netherlands

Abstract

Natural gas occupies one of the leading places in the energy system of the modern world. More and more countries are using environmentally friendly raw materials for domestic needs, moving away from coal consumption due to the decarbonization policy. The article provides an overview and analysis of data on two leaders in natural gas deposits in Europe: Norway and the Netherlands. Special attention is paid to the history of the development of the kingdoms gas market and its impact on the formation of this industry in the European Community and in the world. Both the largest deposits of Troll and Groningen and little-known small deposits discovered at the moment, such as Ekofix, Frigg, Drogen, Ozberg, OrmenLang, F4B, K5A, F4, FA and others, are considered. The development of oil and gas resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf has followed different paths since the first commercial production of hydrocarbons began in 1971. All licensees on the Norwegian Continental Shelf are responsible for the sale of their own gas. In contrast, the Netherlands, which required very large investments for the development of the Groningen field, developed a new type of take or pay – “take or pay” contract, and the gas price was tied to the oil price to return a large amount of public investment. Some results on the development of the industry in the countries have been summed up.