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Transcripción del abstract original del autor: The Netherlands is characterised by a large number of indigenous gas fields. The Groningen field, operated by the NAM, is by far the greatest of these resources. Since the first development of this field in 1963 it has been the main source of supply flexibility in the Netherlands and surrounding countries. With the introduction of the "Small Fields" policy in 1974 the Dutch government stimulated - with fiscal measures - the exploration for and preferential production of smaller gas fields, thereby keeping the large Groningen field as a strategic reserve for future generations. Gasunie, the Dutch transmission operator and trading company, executed this policy by guaranteeing the intake of any natural gas offered by producers at market conform prices. This was possible by the fact that production from the Groningen field was reduced when additional small fields were taken in by Gasunie. This system has been very successful in the past three decades. It has lengthened the lifetime of the Groningen field considerably and has led to the development of a significant amount of new reserves. In the 90's the flexibility of the Groningen field had reduced such that additional capacity measures were required in order to satisfy market demand. As a result of extensive studies three UGS's were built in the Netherlands to replace the initial Groningen capacity. The functionality of these UGS were based on the specific demand of Gasunie which was the result of a optimal planning process which had been refined in the last 30 years. Secondly, the existing facilities of the Groningen field were to be renovated and depletion compressors installed at the same time: the Groningen Long Term (GLT) project. However, with the transition from the planned monopolistic gas world to a liberalised gas market it has become apparent that the present UGS functionality does not have the flexibility which traders require. NAM has constructively supported the liberalisation by offering Third Party Access at the Underground Storage in Grijpskerk. Furthermore, customers in the early days of liberalisation have difficulties in defining their requirements and certainly in committing to services. This makes it difficult for the UGS operator to assess whether to invest in changes in the installations or not. As in many other European countries, in the Netherlands, a regulator has been installed with the task to implement the Dutch Gas Act, which is derived from European guidelines. The Dutch regulator wants to facilitate the gas trade but is supplied by the lawmakers with only instruments allowing him to influence the transmission operator and the underground storage operator, i.e. only part of the supply side of the gas chain. NAM to date has determined what services her UGS's can offer to the liberalised world on the basis of their present functionality. Furthermore, it has inventorised what changes are possible to the UGS's. However, more clarity and commitment is required from the market on the desired services before these changes will take effect. Meanwhile less capital intensive and more creative solutions are possible to resolve these issues but that will require intensive co-operation between NAM and the customers of UGS services.