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N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie (short form: Gasunie) is a Dutch
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
infrastructure and transportation company operating in the Netherlands and Germany. Gasunie owns the Netherlands gas transmission network with a total length of over and long network in Germany.


History

Gasunie was founded in 1963 as a public-private partnership of
Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
(25%),
ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
(25%) and the state of the Netherlands (50%) to sell and distribute
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
from the then recently discovered gasfield in the province of
Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. In 2005 the company was divided into a gas trading company (now called
GasTerra GasTerra is a Dutch partially state-owned company that is active in the worldwide trade and supply of natural gas. It is owned by Royal Dutch Shell (25%), ExxonMobil (25%) and the Dutch government (50%). Its history dates back to 2005, when the c ...
) and a gas transportation company which kept the name Gasunie. The latter owns and operates most of the Dutch gas transmission network as well as the former BEB pipeline network in Germany, and a major pipeline connecting The Netherlands with the United Kingdom called the
BBL Pipeline The BBL Pipeline (Balgzand Bacton Line, BBL) is a natural gas interconnector between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. History Laying the pipeline between the compressor station at the Balgzand Gas Plant at Grasweg in Anna Paulowna (provi ...
. In 2005, the split of Gasunie took place through a buy out by the Dutch State of the shares held by Shell and ExxonMobil in the infrastructure part of Gasunie. Therefore, Gasunie is now 100% state owned. The
Dutch Ministry of Finance , type = Department , logo = Logo-ministerie-van-financien.png , logo_width = 250x250px , logo_caption = Logo of the Ministry of Finance , image = Ministerie van Financiën wintertuin1.jpg , image_size ...
represents the Government's shareholder interest. Ownership of GasTerra is divided the same way as Gasunie before 2005. At the end of October 2010, Gasunie became a 25% shareholder in the Rotterdam-based company Rotterdamse Cintra Maatschappij B.V. Cintra is exploring the possibilities for developing services for the transport of from emitter to storage operator in Rotterdam. Gasunie established Vertogas on 2 July 2009 for the purpose of issuing certificates which guarantee the origin and volume produced of green gas. In January 2011 Gasunie Zuidwending became operational. This is a new underground storage facility in Zuidwending, the north of the Netherlands. In 2007, Gasunie bought the BEB's transportation unit BEB Erdgas und Erdoel GmbH, a German natural gas pipeline network operator, from Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil. In September 2019, it was announced that Gasunie will be developing two pipelines based on independent heat transport management. The pipes will be installed for the transport of heat from the port of Rotterdam to the region of The Hague. Gasunie is taking over this project from Eneco. The heat transport pipeline will become a regulated transport network to which various suppliers of heat sources and consumers can connect on the basis of transparent conditions, with Gasunie as independent manager. In South Holland, the construction of a regional heat network can reduce emissions. In April 2022, Gasunie hired a tanker for a period of five years to convert cargoes of
liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
(LNG) into gaseous form, after which it can be pumped into the Dutch gas network. A month later, a second contract for a comparable ship followed, also for a period of five years. The two can store liquefied gas in the hold and supply the gas as needed. Both installations are expected to come into operation in the autumn of 2022 and this capacity will reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. The two ships, from Exmar and New Fortress Energy, will be berthed in Eemshaven and together they can supply 8 billion m³ of natural gas. Gasunie has been co-owner of the Gate terminal in Rotterdam for years, a comparable installation, but on land.


Operations

Gasunie is a shareholder of ICE Endex, a European gas spot and derivatives exchange. Gasunie owns 60% of the BBL Pipeline between the Netherlands and England. It also has 9% of shares in
Nord Stream AG Nord Stream AG is a consortium for construction and operation of the Nord Stream 1 submarine pipeline between Vyborg in Russia and Greifswald in Germany. The consortium was incorporated in Zug, Switzerland, on 30 November 2005. The original ...
, the project company for the
Nord Stream 1 Nord Stream (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream, literally 'North Stream'; russian: Северный поток, ''Severny potok'') is a pair of offshore natural gas pipelines in Europe that run under the Baltic Sea ...
pipeline. Gasunie has agreed to have a 20% stake in NEL pipeline which will connect Nord Stream with the German gas system. Gasunie owns 42.5% of Gate Terminal, the first LNG import terminal in the Netherlands, on the
Maasvlakte The Maasvlakte () is a massive man-made westward extension of the Europoort port and industrial facility within the Port of Rotterdam. Situated in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Maasvlakte is built on land reclaimed ...
. Following successful cooperation with GTS, Gate was brought into operation on the planned date of 1 September 2011.


See also

*
Gasunie Building The Gasunie Building is one of the most famous buildings in Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. It was built as a headquarters for Gasunie and was officially opened on 22 April 1994 by Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix of the Nethe ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gasunie Government-owned companies of the Netherlands Natural gas pipeline companies Natural gas companies of the Netherlands