On the third day of the parliamentary inquiry into gas extraction in Groningen, two people spoke: George Verberg, former senior official at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and former director of the Gasunie, and Annemarie Jorritsma, former Minister of Economic Affairs. . While Verberg was able to tell in great detail about the talks and negotiations about gas extraction, in which he was involved from 1974 to 2004, Jorritsma emphasized that it had been a long time since she had been responsible as minister for this file.
Jorritsma was Minister of Economic Affairs from 1998 to 2002 and Deputy Prime Minister of the second Kok cabinet. At that time, the energy market was liberalized. The so-called gas building that had been set up in the 1960s to exploit the large gas field in Groningen, and in which the State collaborated with the oil companies Shell and Esso, had to be refurbished. The new proportions were laid down in the Gas Act of 2000. According to Jorritsma, the oil companies were not happy with it. Shareholder Exxon, in particular, strongly resisted. “They preferred to continue with the private-law agreements from the 1960s.” But these were ‘not transparent’ and went against the European agreements.
severe earthquakes
During the period that Jorritsma was minister, several severe earthquakes occurred in the Drenthe village of Roswinkel. The ‘crazy’ thing, says Jorritsma, is that she was never called to the House of Representatives to debate those earthquakes, nor about subsidence, which was discussed at the time. “The thought was not that it would be such a big problem.” There was damage, but that “was a problem that we just had to solve quickly.”
Jorritsma says that she instructed the Technical Committee on Soil Movement (Tcbb) to investigate the damage reports. People could then use those reports if they wanted to recover the damage from NAM. “We did what we could to help people get their rights.”
Big fight behind the scenes
Earlier in the day, Verberg was questioned by the committee. He explained in detail how the State and the gas companies worked together from the 1960s to monetize the enormous gas discovery in Groningen. That required major investments in pipelines throughout the country. Behind the scenes there was sometimes a lot of arguing, but to the outside world the partners held a „stiff upper lip”, says Verberg. That was simply necessary because the financial interests were so great.
Verberg was angry about the 2015 report of the Dutch Safety Board (OVV), in which the accusation was made that the safety of the people of Groningen had been of secondary importance for decades. The cabinet and the House of Representatives have expressed regret. But according to Verberg, the OVV has not understood anything. In the Netherlands it was decided to make natural gas the main fuel, which is why the coal mines in Limburg were closed. It was a huge turnaround that required major investments, which had to be quickly recouped with the gas. Everything was aimed at that, he says.
This article is also part of our live blog: Independent geologist Van der Gaag: ‘I was seen as a smartass’