There are hundreds of gas fields in the North Sea. These fields are referred to as small fields due to their limited size. The GEMS area is one of the locations where several small fields may be present. GEMS stands for ‘Gateway to the Ems’ and refers to a location in the North Sea north of the mouth of the Ems.
In 2017, ONE-Dyas discovered that natural gas can be extracted from a new small field: field N05-A. The North Sea is divided into various blocks, and each block has a unique number. The number refers to the block in which the field is located. In 2020, an exploratory well also confirmed the presence of a gas field in the N04 block. Further investigations have shown that it is not, in fact, a single gas field but two neighbouring gas fields in the same underground layer: the N04-A field and the N04-C field. It is highly likely that other small fields can be developed in the vicinity of this field. The GEMS project covers the entire area within which these small fields are located, encompassing both the Dutch and German parts of the North Sea. The project is initially focused on developing the N05-A field.
The N05-A block lies approximately 20 kilometres off the coast of Rottumerplaat, Schiermonnikoog and the German island of Borkum. The North Sea is around twenty-five metres deep at that location; the gas field itself lies four kilometres below the surface.
The N04 block is situated some 30 kilometres north of the islands. Here too, the North Sea is approximately 25 metres deep. Although the field consists of two separate parts, a single platform location will be selected to access both the N04-A field and the N04-C field.
There may be even more gas fields within the boundaries of the ONE-Dyas licence areas. Some of them have already been mapped, see map on the left. Seismic surveys will have to reveal whether there are more gas fields in the area.
N05-A development
N04-A/C development
An exploratory drilling was used to demonstrate that natural gas is present in block N05 and N04. This is called the 'discovery'. There are several 'prospects' in the immediate vicinity of the N05-A field. These are fields where natural gas is probably also present. Exploration wells will have to show whether this concerns economically producible gas.