Now that gas is scarce and the gas price is rising rapidly, gas threatens to become unaffordable for private individuals and companies. Increasing gas extraction in Groningen again in order to reduce the price is not an option, says René Paas, the King’s Commissioner in the province of Groningen in news hour. “That is excluded.”
“It would be outrageous if national politicians decided to expose Groningen residents again to the threat that was the reason to stop drilling at the time because of the gas price. It will be ready after 2022. Then it will remain open as a pilot light for another one or two years. Then we weld it shut. Groningen gas is history.” If Groningen remains open as a pilot light, it is only possible to extract more gas from the ground during a ‘horror winter’.
‘Don’t leave the Netherlands out in the cold’
“No one in Groningen wants to leave the Netherlands and themselves out in the cold. But if the pilot flame is out, it is no longer possible. Then it is also a matter of respect.” Easter says there should be no doubt that the only exception is an extreme winter.
For now, the biggest problem is the rising price. The first households are already getting presented the bill and the shortage of affordable gas is also causing problems for companies. Aluminum factory Aldel in Delfzijl will lead production from Sunday 60 to 70 percent shutdown because of the high gas prices. The director of Aldel, Eric Wildschut, is therefore also looking at gas from his province. “There must be security of supply and a stable electricity price. Groningen gas can play a role in this.”
‘Groningers have suffered enough’
Outgoing Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra promised the House of Representatives today that the government will soon come up with proposals to see how the impact of the price increases can be limited. One option, according to insiders, is to lower the energy tax. His colleague outgoing minister Stef Blok of Economic Affairs is clear. Groningen gas is not an option at the moment, his ministry says in writing: “It is absolutely not an option to temporarily extract more gas to keep the gas price down.” The only exceptions are an extremely cold winter or delivery problems, the ministry adds.
Groningers fear that more gas will be extracted from the ground again. The Groningen Member of Parliament Sandra Beckerman of the SP is also not reassured. “Just now was the fifth earthquake in a week. A disaster has occurred in my province. That gas tap really needs to be closed.” Whether Beckerman believes that the gas tap really stays closed? “New.”
Henk Nijboer (PvdA) finds it self-evident that the minister is not yet talking about turning on the gas tap. “It would be a shame if the minister had decided otherwise. Not endanger Groningen residents for financial reasons. They have suffered enough already.”
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Hoekstra gave in the House of Representatives that he is surprised “how quickly this problem has become very serious. A month ago this was hardly a theme. I expect that the cabinet will have to intervene.” Jilles van den Beukel, energy analyst at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, thinks that no proper risk analysis has been made of stopping the gas drilling in Groningen. “We have calculated to the decimal point how the earthquakes will decrease if we pump less, but we have not looked closely at problems in the supply of gas.”
Van den Beukel suspects that behind the scenes talks are already taking place between the Ministry of the Interior and companies such as Shell and ExxonMobil, to get more gas out of the ground in Groningen. “But Shell and Exxon are not looking forward to that at all, because they will undeniably have to deal with all kinds of damage problems.”
‘Social pressure too great’
A return to the old quantities does not seem realistic to Van den Beukel in any case. “The social pressure in the Netherlands is too great.” According to him, it is quite conceivable that Groningen will remain on the pilot light in combination with a ‘back door’ in the contract to be able to pump up in times of dire need. “But according to many people, we are not there yet.” Van den Beukel can imagine that this is necessary in February, for example, after a severe winter.
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