First information was needed, only then could he make decisions. That is what former minister Henk Kamp (Economic Affairs 2012-2017, VVD) answered to almost every critical question from the parliamentary committee of inquiry about the lack of action after the Huizinge quake in 2012.
Supervisor SodM launched an investigation on its own initiative in 2012 and warned Kamp of more severe earthquakes. In addition, SSM saw a relationship between the level of gas extraction and the earthquakes in the region – Inspector General Jan de Jong of SSM told Kamp that he “should reduce gas production as quickly as realistically possible”. But Kamp didn’t. “There was a lot of information and it was not in agreement,” Kamp said in The Hague on Friday.
Notes to the ministry were known that gas extraction in Groningen could be reduced soon after Huizinge by adding nitrogen to other gas, so that it had the same properties as Groningen gas. But that was no reason for Kamp to reduce gas production either. “That information was not perfect,” said Kamp.
And even a warning from his only knowledgeable official, pointing out that cutting production would be wise as long as research was needed into the tremors in the area, didn’t lead Kamp to act. “I couldn’t make a well-founded decision if you don’t know what the consequences are.”
Safety was certainly paramount at Kamp, he repeated. “But also the security of supply. You don’t know what the consequences will be if the heating doesn’t heat up during a very cold winter, three, four, five, six days. That would be a disruption of society with catastrophic consequences.”
‘Something serious’
Kamp knew immediately upon his appointment in November 2012 that he had to do ‘something’ about the safety of the people of Groningen. “Something very serious was going on,” he referred to the Huizinge quake a few months earlier. But he could only do that if he had all the information on which to make decisions, he thought. That is why he decided not to intervene when gas extraction reached the highest level in decades in 2013. “I then reasoned that we had insufficient information to make a decision about gas extraction,” said Kamp.
Yet it was his job as minister to deal with uncertainties. “That’s really my job,” he said, bouncing from his chair. “Making a decision is different from having an opinion or advice. I had to get the feeling that all things considered, that decision was the best possible decision.” But in 2013, he made no decision.
He regrets it afterwards. “I wish I had decided in January 2013 that we would not extract more gas than the year before.” But that didn’t happen. In 2013, gas production rose to 54 billion cubic meters, the highest level since the mid-1970s. Moreover, it was four billion higher than in the extraction plan of trading house GasTerra.
This was due to a colder winter, Kamp informed the House of Representatives repeatedly in those years. But, Kamp said in The Hague on Friday, an internal evaluation in 2015 shows that he has incorrectly informed the House of Representatives about this. Less gas was needed for security of supply than was extracted. “I had a bad feeling about that, because afterwards the information turned out to be different. Extra gas was deliberately sold.”
This article is also part of our live blog: Dijsselbloem on gas production: unfortunate that I was guided by the budget