Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: Netherlands
Location: | Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany |
Climate: | temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters |
Terrain: | mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast |
Size: | 41526 sq. km total (Land area: 33883 sq. km Water area: 7643 sq.km) |
Population: | 16,645,313 (July 2008 est.) |
Languages: | Dutch (official), Frisian (official) |
Government: | constitutional monarchy |
Capital city: | Amsterdam |
Legal system: | based on civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Currency: | euro (EUR) |
Licensing: |
Country profile
Significant North Sea oil and natural gas reserves were discovered in the 1970s. However, the North Sea did not emerge as a key, non-OPEC oil producing area until the 1980s and 1990s, when major projects began coming onstream. Oil and natural gas extraction in the North Sea's inhospitable climate and great depths requires sophisticated offshore technology. Consequently, the region is a relatively high-cost producer, but its political stability and proximity to major European consumer markets have allowed it to play a major role in world oil and natural gas markets. Five countries operate crude oil and natural gas production facilities in the North Sea: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
Although the region will continue to be a sizable crude oil producer, output from its largest producers - the UK and Norway - has peaked and entered a period of long term decline. In the near term, improved oil recovery technologies, continued high oil prices and new projects coming online could temporarily delay declines in North Sea crude oil output. Nonetheless, only new discoveries of sizable volumes could reverse the current downward trend of oil production from the North Sea. In regards to natural gas, the North Sea is also seen as a mature region.
Only Norway has seen an increase in natural gas production in recent years, while the UK will likely become a net gas importer in the midterm. Nevertheless, the North Sea’s importance as a key supplier of natural gas will continue, as natural gas consumption in Europe will increase significantly in the future. Imports from outside sources, such as Africa, the Middle East and Russia, will have to increase to compensate for the North Sea decline.
Energy production and consumption
Oil | Gas | |
Production: | 76,000 bbl/day (2006) | 77 billion cu m (2006) |
Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2006) | 47 billion cu m (2006) |
Exports: | 1 million bbl/day (2006) | 50 billion cu m (2006) |
Imports: | 2 million bbl/day (2006) | 22 billion cu m (2006) |
Reserves: | 106 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 1 trllion cu m (2007) |
Major fields: |
Netherlands - recent news
16 Apr 24 |
Netherlands: HSM Offshore Energy rolls out the N05-A Topside for ONE-Dyas HSM Offshore Energy, a leading name in the EPCIC multi-disciplinary offshore renewable project industry, has successfully rolled out the N05-A Topside for ONE-Dyas at its yard in Schiedam, the Netherlands. Merely two days after the successful lift of the upperpart of the jacket on its lower counterpart. These project milestones represent an important step in harnessing local Dutch offshore energy resources. |
14 Mar 24 |
Netherlands: Vattenfall InCharge collaborates to create 35,000 new public charging points Vattenfall InCharge will install and manage up to 35,000 public charging points in the provinces of North-Holland, Flevoland and Utrecht in the Netherlands, with two other operators over the next four years. To this end, the project organisation MRA-Elektrisch issued a tender on behalf of 74 municipalities. The first charging stations could be on the streets as early as mid-2024. |
11 Mar 24 |
Netherlands: Worley to support Shell in delivering Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen project Shell has awarded Worley a contract for professional services. The services will support the delivery of the Holland Hydrogen 1 facility in the Port of Rotterdam which, at completion, will be Europe’s largest commercial renewable hydrogen production facility. |
19 Feb 24 |
Netherlands: Seatrium partners with TenneT and GE Vernova for third offshore wind project in the Netherlands Seatrium has received notification from TenneT that it plans to commence work on the third 2-gigawatt (GW) High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electrical transmission system on 1 June 2024. |
12 Feb 24 |
Netherlands: RWE starts construction of utility-scale battery storage project in the Netherlands RWE is further expanding its battery storage business worldwide. The company has now started construction of its first utility-scale Dutch battery storage project with an installed power capacity of 35 megawatts (MW) and a storage capacity of 41 megawatt-hours (MWh). |
Netherlands - more news
Other countries in this region
- Afghanistan,
- Albania,
- Armenia,
- Austria,
- Azerbaijan,
- Belarus,
- Belgium,
- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Bulgaria,
- Croatia,
- Cyprus,
- Czech Republic,
- Denmark,
- Estonia,
- Faroe Islands,
- Finland,
- France,
- Georgia,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Greenland,
- Hungary,
- Iceland,
- Ireland,
- Italy,
- Kazakhstan,
- Kyrgyzstan,
- Latvia,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Malta,
- Moldova,
- Montenegro,
- Norway,
- Poland,
- Portugal,
- Romania,
- Russia,
- Serbia,
- Slovakia,
- Slovenia,
- Spain,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- Tajikistan,
- Tatarstan,
- Turkey,
- Turkmenistan,
- Ukraine,
- United Kingdom,
- Uzbekistan