Plan to drill for gas near Ternaard in the Wadden Sea will not move forward for now

The Cabinet will not give oil and gas company NAM permission to extract gas in an area of the Wadden Sea north of Ternaard, Friesland. Due to new advice about the effects of gas extraction, caretaker State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief said on Tuesday he was forced to refuse the extraction plan. Vijlbrief, who handles mining policy for the Cabinet, said that NAM has to produce new calculations to demonstrate "that extraction has no adverse consequences" to reverse his position.

In a new study, a series of institutes wrote that the relative sea level increase - the actual sea level rise including land subsidence - is happening much faster than previously calculated. Mining activities, including gas drilling, also cause the ground to sink further. There is less ability to handle this because the sea level is rising faster than expected.

The advice has "important implications for the submitted extraction plan," according to State mining supervisor SodM. Vijlbrief said he cannot agree to allow extracting gas in the area for the time being, he wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. NAM will be given the opportunity to submit new calculations.

The Council of State, the highest administrative court in the Netherlands, ordered Vijlbrief to make a final decision on the extraction plan before April 1. "That is no longer feasible," said the minister. He asked the Council of State to grant an extenstion.

Proposals to drill under the Wadden Sea have brought significant political controversy. Many parties with a focus on climate change and sustainability are against any plan to issue a new permit.

The United Nations also warned last year about the consequences of the drilling in the region. If mining activities continue, the nature reserve could lose its UNESCO World Heritage status, the UN warned in a report.