The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), headquartered in Assen, has been put up for sale by Shell and ExxonMobil. The international news agency Reuters reports this on the basis of sources at the oil companies and a confidential document that the news agency has obtained.
According to the news agency, it is part of Shell and ExxonMobil’s policy to divest activities that are no longer central to the companies. That is why the offshore gas activities of NAM were recently put up for sale. This includes dozens of gas fields and about twenty drilling platforms.
NAM has been producing natural gas since 1963 after the discovery of the Groningen gas field, and for many years it was an important gas supplier to the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. Gas extraction has been greatly reduced due to the earthquakes in Groningen.