From next Saturday, 1 October, the cabinet will further close the Groningen gas tap as planned. The Groningen field will run ‘on the pilot flame’ and will therefore only extract a minimal amount of gas. That writes the Secretary of State Hans Vijlbrief (Mining, D66) in a letter to the House of Representatives on Monday.
Vijlbrief says that in the coming gas year, which runs from October, a maximum of 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas will be extracted from Groningen. In the previous gas year (2021-2022), about 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas was extracted. The cabinet has wanted to reduce gas extraction from the Groningen field for some time now. Because of the war in Ukraine and the subsequent gas shortages, a battle is being held. “If the geopolitical situation permits, the cabinet wants to stop gas extraction from the Groningen field in the autumn of 2023, or at the latest 2024,” the cabinet said.
Eleven Groningen gas wells are still open. They will be kept running with a maximum from October for emergencies. State Secretary Vijlbrief will decide before 1 April next year whether six of the eleven production locations can be closed from then on. That will also depend on the ‘geopolitical situation’.
The reason for turning off the gas tap is the impact of the earthquakes in Groningen. “With every earthquake in Groningen, such as at Uithuizen on Saturday, the people of Groningen are startled again. The damage to houses, but certainly also the impact on Groningen residents is enormous,” says Vijlbrief.