The NAM in Assen must contribute hundreds of millions to the damage settlement and reinforcement operation in Groningen. The judge decided this in an interim ruling in the lawsuit that the gas extraction company started to challenge the levies.
Energy Minister Sophie Hermans (VVD) and State Secretary Eddie van Marum (Groningen, BBB) today sent the verdicts in the lawsuits to the House of Representatives.
According to the judge, the State may recover approximately 73 percent of the costs for 2024 from NAM. The levy for handling physical damage, immaterial damage, depreciation damage and the reinforcement operation amounts to 1.35 billion euros in that year.
This is a provisional amount, which must be paid “on time”. The final levy will follow later. The amount will be included in the budget of the Ministry of the Interior, which is also responsible for the recovery operation.
These are interim rulings in the so-called ‘arbitration cases’, initiated by NAM and its owners Shell and ExxonMobil. Since 2020, NAM has been paying less for the recovery than what the government charges them.
There is also a conflict about compensation for stopping gas extraction. Shell and Exxon want to see money because the State stopped pumping gas earlier than originally intended.
The NAM says it is studying the levies “and cannot make any further statements about this at this time,” a spokesperson told ANP.
The final ruling will be made in the first quarter of 2026.