Oct 24 (Reuters) - Mammoet said on Thursday it would

support the decommissioning of one of the biggest gas well

closure projects in the world, following Dutch government

mandates to stop production at the Groningen field.

The private engineering firm will provide logistical and

engineering support to Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM),

a joint venture of Shell and Exxon's, to

decommission all closed onshore gas wells along the Groningen

field, north of the Netherlands.

NAM operates the gas field which was one of Europe's main

gas suppliers for decades.

Despite massive reserves, the Dutch government decided in

2018 to rapidly decrease production to prevent seismic risks,

stopping it entirely last year.

In April, the Dutch Senate passed a law to permanently close

the gas field to prevent any potential resumption of production.

"Closure of the first well started on May 1, 2024, with the

project expected to continue for more than a decade," Mammoet

said in a release

The project involves removing 800 gas production wells and

1,750 kilometers (1,087 miles) of pipeline.

In February, Exxon and Shell asked an arbitration court to

determine if the state should compensate them for ending gas

production at the fields.