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Dutch gov't was allowed to keep Groningen gas field open this year: Council of State
The Cabinet acted with sufficient care when it decided to keep the Groningen gas field open this year and to extract the minimum amount of gas necessary to keep the installations operational. The Council of State made this ruling on Wednesday in a case brought by the Groninger Bodem Beweging and several locals living in the gas extraction area.
According to the Council of State, State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief (Mining) provided sound reasons for why the government needed to extract a maximum of 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas from the Groningen field in the 2022-2023 gas year, which ends next month. That is the minimum amount of extraction required to keep the installations operating, known as the “pilot flame” level.
The government sufficiently motivated that the Groningen field needed to remain operational to guarantee supply after Russia reduced its gas supply to Europe following its invasion of Ukraine. The nitrogen installation in Zuidbroek to make imported gas suitable for domestic consumption also wasn’t ready in time.
Furthermore, Vijlbrief “described in detail” what effects the decision could have on earthquakes in the region, further disrupting locals' lives, and “concretely set out” what the government was doing to improve the situation, the Council said.
“The State Secretary has provided sound reasons why this extraction level is necessary,” the Council of State said. “He has also taken sufficient measures to reduce the demand for gas from Groningen as quickly as possible, with the starting point that gas extraction will end next year.” The government plans to close the Groningen gas field in October.
This was the seventh time in recent years that the Council of State was asked to rule on gas extraction in Groningen. In 2019, 2017, and 2015, the Council ruled that the government allowed more gas extraction than was responsible for local residents living in the fracking area. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, the Council approved the extraction amounts.