GasTerra has now been in operation for almost 50 years. It all started with the discovery of the Groningen field in 1959 and the emergence of natural gas in the 1960s. In the decades that followed, natural gas became more valuable and concern for the environment grew, leading to a prudent energy policy. Today, the gas market is a free market. 98% of homes in the Netherlands have a gas connection and about 50% of the electricity produced in the Netherlands comes from gas-fired plants, meaning it continues to be the country with the most intensive use of natural gas in the world.

1960s

In 1959, the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) found gas under the ground in Groningen. After the discovery of the Groningen field, it was not immediately clear how great the economic value of gas could be. It was only several years later, as a result of new drilling work in the surrounding area, that it became clear how immense the Groningen field actually was: it turned out to be the largest natural gas field ever discovered in the world with a capacity of about 2800 billion cubic metres. The discovery led to the formation of NV Nederlandse Gasunie in 1963, a company geared to selling and transporting the Dutch natural gas. Natural gas pipelines were rapidly laid in the ground, appliances such as water heaters, cooking hobs and ovens were converted to work with natural gas instead of town gas and coal-fired cookers and stoves were replaced by gas cookers and central heating. Within ten years, gas was available to three-quarters of the Netherlands and coal and oil were no longer the fuels used in homes or offices. Industry, electricity producers and horticultural companies were also quick to see the potential of clean natural gas. These years laid the basis for the European development of natural gas consumption. Export contracts were concluded with Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy. These international sales were the prelude to the European gas market.

1970s

During the 1970s, the value of natural gas increased as a result of two oil crises, there was growing concern for the environment and it was generally felt that nuclear energy would be the dominant energy source towards the millenium. Natural gas was viewed as being of only limited economic sustainability. This belief would soon give way to the recognition that a long future was in store for natural gas, and, in addition, as the cleanest of the fossil fuels, natural gas also scored highly on environmental considerations. This new insight led to the small fields policy: the natural gas from the small fields was taken as a priority in order to keep the gas from the Groningen field as a strategic supply. Over the years, dozens of gas fields have been added to the portfolio as a result of this and, over many successive years, the gas flows from the small fields have supplied a greater proportion of the sales than those from the large Groningen field.

1980s/1990s

Prices have been unpredictable since the 1980s following increases which came in fits and starts as a result of the oil crises dominating the 1970s. These crises were all the more reason for a prudent energy policy and the Netherlands made great progress in energy saving practices. Domestic gas consumption fell from an average 3,000 m3 during the 1970s to below 2000 m3 by the end of the 1990s. Insulation, double glazing and, in particular, the high efficiency boiler, have all helped to accomplish this development. Robust efficiency drives were also launched in industry, including the Environmental Plan for Industry, with which GasTerra is still helping its industrial customers today.