Gas imports from Norway, Russia rise as Dutch production falls

National gas extraction in the Netherlands dropped by more than a quarter last year to just over 51 billion cubic meters. The decrease was compensated for by imports, mainly from Norway and Russia, according to figures Statistics Netherlands published on Tuesday.

Last year a total of some 36 billion cubic meters of natural gas was imported form other countries, almost 50 percent more than in 2010. Imports from Russia doubled between 2010 and 2015 and imports from Norway increased by over 50 percent. Imports from Denmark dropped by 44 percent and from the United Kingdom dropped by 18 percent.

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) also showed an increase last year. In 2015 a total of 2.3 billion cubic meters were imported, compared to 1 billion cubic meters in 2014.

Almost 29 billion cubic meters of the 51 billion cubic meters of natural gas extracted in the Netherlands last year, came from gas fields. A production limit was imposed on the Groningen gas fields in 2014 for the first time, due to the risk of fracking earthquakes in the province.