The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) needs about a year to prepare, but in the summer of next year they will drill to oil near Schoonebeek again. The bore of the wells in which waste water is injected is in all likelihood in November of this year.
The NAM announces this in a letter sent to residents of Schoonebeek and the surrounding area. Because oil extraction has been standing since 2022, some work is still needed to inspect all installations and wells and to carry out maintenance where necessary. “We also conclude new contracts with regional contractors who will support oil extraction,” De NAM writes in the letter. The new water injection wells are needed when the oil extraction is started. This is because waste water is released, which is stored in these wells.
In December, the Stop Waste Water Schoonebeek (SAS) action group still announced that it would object to the approval of then Minister Sophie Hermans (VVD), who agreed for oil and gas extraction and injecting waste water into an almost empty gas field under Schoonebeek.
SAS has several legal proceedings against the permits of NAM, says Jenneke Ensink, the spokesperson for SAS. “We are in the middle of these processes, it is now waiting for treatment by the judge,” says Ensink. The NAM does not have to wait for this judicial corridor and they started to win gas again at the beginning of this year and the plans for the other two projects are therefore officially communicated to the local residents.
In the letter, the NAM also discusses the establishment of a sounding board group called the Eulietaofel. All residents of Schoonebeek and the surrounding villages can participate in this sounding board group. Through this group, the NAM informs interested parties about new developments and the work.
SAS is “ambivalent” opposite the establishment of the Eulietoafel. “What are the usefulness and necessity of the group, what are the tasks and does this group speak on behalf of the village?” Ensink wonders aloud.
Chairman of Dorpsbelangen Schoonebeek, Jos van Hees, says they were not involved in the establishment of the Eulietoafel. Dorpsbelangen Schoonebeek organized a survey among the residents of Schoonebeek in 2023. It showed that a majority of the respondents are against waste water injections. Van Hees thinks “it is good of the NAM to inform residents in time.”