(Bloomberg) -- Gasunie, the owner and operator of the Netherlands’ natural-gas transport system, urged the country not to close a key field as planned amid heightened geopolitical risks. 

The Dutch government is seeking to shut the giant Groningen field as early as October 2023 due to the risk of earthquakes linked to gas extraction. However, the European Union is now racing to find alternative fuel supplies after Russia -- the bloc’s biggest gas supplier -- invaded Ukraine. 

Shutting the field would be a “political decision,” and the government shouldn’t take any irreversible steps with regard to Groningen, Gasunie Transport Services executives Bart Jan Hoevers and Britta van Boven said in an interview.  

“Closing it down before you have arranged a new way to source the gas, under the current geopolitical circumstances, is accepting certain risks,” said van Boven, who oversees commerce and regulation.

Europe was in the midst of an energy-supply crunch due to historically low inventories, even before Russia attacked Ukraine in February. While prices have eased from the record levels seen in the early weeks of the war, benchmark futures are still about five times more expensive than they were a year ago. 

The EU is now seeking to curb its reliance on Russian gas flows by nearly two-thirds this year, while replenishing depleted storage facilities and increasing imports of liquefied natural gas.

“We’d advise to keep Groningen at maximum capacity as a back up,” said Hoevers, managing director of the grid operator, adding that gas storage should also be a focus. “By maximizing storage levels you minimize the problem of having a lack of Russian gas.” 

Groningen Supply 

The Dutch government said that while it would boost gas production at Groningen, it still wants the field to close next year due to seismic risks. Total production at the site will rise to 4.5 billion cubic meters for the 12 months through September, according to an April 1 statement.  

The cabinet considers the field “a very last option if the energy supply to households and other protected customers such as hospitals is seriously endangered,” it said.

“The safety of Groningen residents is paramount and gas extraction in Groningen is not safe,” the government said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “That means everything is focused on closing the field as quickly as possible.”

Hoevers said options to alleviate a possible gas shortage include saving on consumption, bringing in additional floating terminals and filling storage sites. 

“Even if you do that you’re not risk-free with regards to Russian gas,” he said. “You still have a decision to make on which consumers to disconnect in case of shortage of gas.”

Also See: Netherlands Explores Options to Fill Gas Storage Before Winter

The Dutch government is weighing a minimum stockpile level, appointing a third party to fill the sites, or using so-called contracts for difference to guarantee a fixed price for companies stashing away the fuel, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. A combination of all three is also being considered.

“Looking at the northwest European gas market, it’s quite an illusion to think that after the coming winter we would have arranged sufficient alternatives to be able to deal without that Russian gas,” Hoevers said. 

(Updates with government comment in tenth paragraph.)

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