The economic benefits of the gas produced by Groningen have been immense, but now some of the costs are becoming apparent. Rebuilding thousands of homes, and increasing the height of the dikes which protect Holland from flooding will be enormously costly – perhaps comparable to the Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that drove BP to the financial brink.
By John Donovan
On Monday 16 December a Dutch public service TV channel, NCRV, aired a documentary about natural gas drilling in Northwest Groningen by NAM, a joint venture company owned by Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil.
The drilling is causing increasingly violent earthquakes.
A former engineer predicted in October 2013 that major earthquakes will soon occur.
“It’s only a matter of time before people will be injured or even die because of the earthquakes that afflict North Groningen says Adriaan Houtenbos in the NRC Handelsblad today.” (Translation)
Houtenbos is a former department head of ‘geomatics‘ in Dutch Petroleum Maatschappij (NAM).
Naturally startled residents are becoming increasingly alarmed.
Link to the video, which is in Dutch
As NAM removes the gas from the Groningen field the surface level subsides. This results in numerous earthquakes and extensive property damage. Many of the old farmhouses and churches are developing cracks.
The Dutch government has sponsored an independent group to study what is going on.
The potential consequences are frightening as the dikes and low lying parts of Holland around Groningen are increasingly vulnerable to flooding.
The economic benefits of the gas produced by Groningen have been immense, but now some of the costs are becoming apparent. Rebuilding thousands of homes, and increasing the height of the dikes which protect Holland from flooding will be enormously costly – perhaps comparable to the Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that drove BP to the financial brink.
As can be seen from earlier articles on the subject, the Groningen earthquakes scandal has been rumbling on for several years
One informed source says:
It is a complex situation, but for sure NAM is going to end up paying. The lawyers will be rich again.
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Shell Causes Earthquakes in the Netherlands: 30 Aug 2005
Groningen Exxon/Shell gas fields – the Dutch earthquake zone: 20 May 2013
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