* Court halts gas production around Dutch Loppersum village
* Court allows other production at huge Groningen field
* Loppersum halt due to earthquake safety concerns
* Other Groningen production may make up for Loppersum cuts (Adds quotes, details, background, bylines)
By Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM, April 14 (Reuters) - A Dutch court haltedproduction in part of Europe's largest gas field in the provinceof Groningen, raising industry concerns that further curbs couldbe ordered because of safety fears over earthquakes.
In a preliminary ruling on Tuesday, the Council of Statesaid it would order a halt to production around the village ofLoppersum in the northern province.
It stopped short of imposing a full block on production inthe important Groningen gas field as complainants had sought.
Loppersum production was previously capped at 3 billioncubic meters (bcm) for 2015, representing roughly 9 percent ofoverall output from Groningen.
"For the time being, gas may be extracted in and aroundLoppersum only if extraction from other locations is no longerpossible and if necessary for the security of supply," a courtstatement said.
"If production were stopped in full, demand for gas from theNetherlands and neighbouring countries could not be met," thejudge said.
Dutch gas production makes up about 15 percent of Europe'stotal, and profits from the field supply roughly 5 percent ofthe government's revenues.
Judge Thijs Drupsteen said he was ordering the government'sapproval of the extraction plan submitted by NAM, a jointventure between Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp. to be "partially suspended".
Production at Groningen has become increasinglycontroversial since the Dutch Safety Board found in Februarythat the government failed to adequately consider the threat tocitizens from the small, but damaging earthquakes.
PRELIMINARY RULING
The ruling was preliminary and based on complaints filed bytwo out of 40 applicants. The cases will be heard in full inmid-September, it said.
Henk Scheffer, representing complainants, called thedecision a "moral victory" although it leaves the door open forthe government to maintain overall production at current levels.
He said Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp will have toinclude safety concerns in his next decision about production atGroningen in July or the court will intervene more forcefully tocut production.
Gas traders said the decision's limited immediate impactcame as a relief, although worries of future gas cuts persist.
"All gas bids have dropped," one trader said.
UK gas contracts for May delivery were down 1.4percent at 45.95 pence, when they had traded as high as 46.85pence before the decision.
The judge ordered production stops at the 't Zandt,Overschild, De Paauwen, Ten Post and Leermens clusters "whichare the areas known to be at greatest risk of earthquakes."
Small volumes of gas may be extracted only to keep theclusters open so they could be restored in case of an emergency.
The lawsuit formally challenged minister Kamp's decision toset 2015 production from Groningen at 39.4 billion cubic metres(bcm) of gas -- a decision he is already reconsidering.
In February Kamp cut first half 2015 production to 16.5 bcm,sending gas prices surging in Northwest Europe. The overallannual target for the year is still to be confirmed in July. (Additional reporting by Nina Chestney in London; Editing byKeith Weir)
