Dutch state gas firm NAM paid €3 Billion to Shell, ExxonMobil amid Groningen shutdown

The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) has paid out a total of 3 billion euros to its owners Shell and the American company ExxonMobil, according to the 2024 annual report. This is the first payout to the two shareholders since 2017. Each will receive 1.5 billion euros. NAM is a joint venture where the Dutch State owns 50 percent of shares, and both Shell and ExxonMobil hold a 25 percent stake.

In this same period, between 2018 and 2024, the Dutch petroleum company paid 12.9 million euros to the Dutch government. This excludes payments for earthquake-related costs to the Institute for Mining Damage Groningen (IMG) and the National Coordinator Groningen (NCG), which handle the consequences of gas extraction in Groningen.

The NAM recorded a net profit of almost 1.3 billion euros in 2024, a significant rise compared to the previous year, when it recorded a profit of 224 million euros. The higher profit is a result of GasTerra’s performance, which largely benefits Maatschap Groningen, of which NAM holds a 60 percent share. Last year was historic for NAM because the Groningen gas field was permanently closed.

GasTerra is the supplier of Groningen’s natural gas. Because gas extraction from the Groningen field has stopped, the company was scheduled to be dissolved at the end of 2024. Due to obligations from long-term contracts, this has been postponed, and GasTerra will continue to exist until the end of 2026.

The NAM also announced plans to sell its offshore activities in the Netherlands to Canadian company Ten. This sale would mark the end of more than 65 years of the company’s offshore activities on the Dutch part of the North Sea.

Last year, the NAM produced 3.4 billion cubic meters of gas and 800,000 barrels of oil. The company paid 3 billion euros in taxes and natural gas royalties in 2024.

At the end of 2024, NAM had 9.6 billion euros in cash reserves. This "strong cash position," according to the company, enables it to pay both the payout to the shareholders and future costs, including cleanup expenses and the costs of addressing damage and reinforcement tasks in Groningen.

The NAM shareholders made agreements with the government in 2018 and 2019 about the way the damage compensation for the gas extraction in Groningen should be handled.

However, there is disagreement about the implementation of these agreements and the costs involved, and the shareholders have requested independent arbitrators to issue a ruling on the dispute. According to NAM, this process will take some time.