Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

Magnitude 3.4 tremor at Groningen gas field

AMSTERDAM, Jan 8 (Reuters) – The Dutch minister for the economy said on Monday that output at the large Groningen gas field should be reduced “by as much as possible” during the current government term through 2021.

Eric Wiebes made the comment following a magnitude 3.4 tremor earlier on Monday that was the largest in recent years.

Dozens of earthquakes every year, resulting from decades of gas extraction, have caused damage to thousands of buildings and homes and prompted a dramatic shift in government policy now aimed at capping output.

The new coalition government under Prime Minister Mark Rutte has already agreed to reduce output to around 20 billion cubic metres (bcm) from a current 21.6 bcm, Wiebes was quoted by the ANP news agency as saying in a reaction to Monday’s quake.

“I will try to reduce by as much as possible,” he said. “Whatever it takes, we have to bring down gas production. The Netherlands has to stop using natural gas.”

Amid an ongoing legal battle, the government had proposed last year capping production at the Groningen gas field at 21.6 bcm per year for five years, after a 2015 report found production was risking lives.

That reduction, the justification for which is currently under a legal review, would be down from 24 bcm in the production year just ended and 39.4 bcm in 2015-16.

The NAM joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil operates the Groningen field.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, editing by David Evans)

SOURCE

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.