The Netherlands Petroleum Company will also continue to pay for all measures that have to be taken in the province of Groningen because of the subsidence caused by gas extraction.
NAM has agreed on this with the province of Groningen and the water boards of Noorderzijlvest and Hunze en Aa’s. The oil and gas group guarantees a minimum of 500 million euros, and if necessary, almost 75 million more.
This update of the soil subsidence agreement that NAM and the province concluded in 1983 took a long time to negotiate, after – long before the first earthquakes – it appeared that the soil above the gas extraction area was slowly sinking due to the steady loss of pressure in the Groningen field.
The soil above the gas area sinks like a soup plate by up to 40 centimetres
A large part of the province is expected to sink more than 40 centimeters by 2030. From the edges of the gas extraction area, the soil drops like a soup plate. This is strongest around the core of the gas extraction area, near Loppersum. There has now been a drop of 37 centimeters.
This has major consequences for water management in the province in particular. Since the 1983 agreement, more than 222 million has already been spent on new weirs, stronger pumping stations and raising canal dikes and quays in Delfzijl and Eemshaven.
According to the agreement with NAM, the agreements would be revised if gas extraction ceases. Now that the cabinet wants to turn off the tap with effect from 1 October, the agreement will therefore be updated in such a way that future measures are also financially covered.
1983 agreement revised in view of the end of sixty years of gas extraction
Of the original 850 million guilders with which the soil subsidence fund started, 493 million euros now remain. According to the new agreement, NAM is now increasing this to a security of 500 million.
The independent subsidence committee that manages the fund is now calculating how much money is still needed for further measures. If it turns out that more money is needed, NAM will increase the fund further, with a maximum of another 75 million.
After 2030, the decline will slow down and the imminent termination of gas extraction will slow it down even further. Originally it was expected that the soil would subside by a maximum of 50 centimeters until 2080, but according to the latest forecasts this is slightly lower: 46 centimeters.
The new agreement with NAM is separate from the earthquake problem, the province emphasizes. Groningen is also fighting for full compensation for all damage to buildings and houses by the government and NAM in that file. The parliamentary committee of inquiry described this in February as a ‘debt of honor’ towards the people of Groningen.