Dutch NAM Tests New Small Field

Dutch producer NAM is drilling an exploratory gas well on the Papendijk in Spijkenisse-Oost, it said April 3. Work on this small field is expected to continue until the middle of the month.

The field is at a depth of 2,666 metres and if it proves commercial, NAM will connect the well to a production installation. When the drilling in Spijkenisse is completed, the rig will drill a well in Echten, NAM said.

The first well at Papendijk was drilled in 1990 and the last in 2012. From three small gas fields that lie in the deep subsurface of this site, Nam can produce about 240,000 m³/day. That is enough to provide approximately 60,000 households with hot water and a warm home. However it expects this fourth field to be a small one.

NAM produces gas from over 150 small fields which together provide about 30% of the Dutch energy supply. Its major operation is Groningen, which is being closed prematurely owing to the damage caused to buildings by six decades of gas extraction. NAM is a joint venture owned equally by Anglo-Dutch Shell and US ExxonMobil.