Shell, Exxon apologize for Groningen's fracking earthquakes

Oil companies Shell and Exxon apologized for the suffering of Groningen residents as a result of gas extraction earthquakes in the province. The apologies were made in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, at the insistence of GroenLinks parliamentarian Liesbeth van Tongeren, NOS reports.

"We recognize that the Groningen residents received most of the burden from the gas extraction that we all in the Netherlands owe our prosperity to", Shell CEO Marjan van Loon said. "Therefore the Groningen residents also deserve our support. NAM already expressed regret over it, and I completely agree. So I too can say: I regret it, sorry." Exxon Mobil CEO Rolf de Jong later agreedwith those words.

Shell and Exxon are both major shareholders of NAM, the company responsible for gas extraction in Groningen.