Government confirms Groningen gas drilling to end by Oct. 1 – Northern Times
The Groningen gas field will cease operations on October 1 this year and will be permanently closed in a year’s time, said Hans Feilbrief, State Secretary for Extractive Industries. Confirmed Friday.
Wells in the massive oil field will remain operational for another year in preparation for the frigid winter, after which the infrastructure will be removed, officials said.
Massive gas drilling in the state has caused repeated earthquakes, leaving thousands of residents with home damage and health problems. It is widely believed that the earthquake was the result of subsidence after decades of excavation.
However, the future of the Groningen gas field has taken on new importance since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has sent energy prices skyrocketing, and several European politicians have warned that not only will gas extraction continue, but that drilling will be halted as well. I began to demand that it should be stopped. Enhanced.
The field is operated by a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil. It still has vast reserves of natural gas, but the government has scaled back production in recent years. Local residents, who have suffered millions of euros in damage to their homes over the years, have lobbied for a halt to gas extraction to ensure that the main cause of the quake is eliminated. So far they have received very little compensation.
Earlier this year, in a congressional committee defendant The Dutch State, Shell and ExxonMobil have accused them of ignoring the long-term risks and negative impacts of drilling on people’s livelihoods.
The commission said thousands of residents had damaged homes and health problems as a result of the mass extraction. Opened in 1963, the Groningen oil field began shaking in his 1980s when the local soft clays and sandstones began to migrate. Gas drilling activities in the north of the Netherlands have caused 1,594 earthquakes, cracking 85,000 homes, farms, businesses and buildings, according to a parliamentary committee.
The government initially ignored the issue, but reduced the amount of gas pumped out of Groningen to minimize earthquake risk in the region. Groningen is Europe’s largest natural gas field, with reserves that could replace pipeline gas that Russia no longer pumps to the West. But the commission recommended that authorities and companies should not put profits ahead of people.
The parliamentary committee also called on the government to streamline the processing of damages claims and ensure adequate funding for compensation.
https://northerntimes.nl/govt-confirms-groningen-gas-extraction-will-end-by-october-1/ Government confirms Groningen gas drilling to end by Oct. 1 – Northern Times