This emerges from a representative survey among residents of the province of Groningen that was conducted by Enigma Research on behalf of Dagblad van het Noorden. A large part of the Groningen respondents (83 percent) believe that the Netherlands should stop importing Russian gas.
Almost two in three Groningen residents (61 percent) are in favor of turning on the gas tap in Groningen.
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Groningers who live in the earthquake zone themselves are even more vocal in favor of the resumption of gas extraction than their provincial counterparts who live outside the earthquake zone. The State Supervision of Mines (SodM) has always said that gas extraction up to a maximum of 12 billion cubic meters can be relatively safe if all houses in Groningen are reinforced. That is not the case at the moment. For the time being, SodM believes that extraction should be reduced to zero as soon as possible.
Necessity knows no law
The Netherlands gets about 17 billion cubic meters from Russia that invaded Ukraine last week. The call to stop gas imports from that country is getting louder. And with that, the suggestion is increasingly heard to open the gas tap of Groningen again. Among others, professor of energy technology David Smearders (TU Eindhoven) stated that, due to the high gas prices, the cabinet should reconsider opening Groningen again.
According to this survey, many residents of the province of Groningen show that they show solidarity because of the war. Necessity knows no law.
The vast majority of Groningen residents (almost nine out of ten) believe that the proceeds should then benefit Groningen. That money would then have to go into a fund with which Groningen itself can arrange the repair of the earthquake damage.
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Almost 30 percent are against: ‘pure fantasy’
The survey shows that not everyone is enthusiastic about this: 28 percent of the respondents are against opening the gas tap. The Groninger Soil Movement (GBB) also announced last week that it had no sympathy for this and called it ‘pure fantasy’. According to the GBB, the crisis is presented too simply and there is no question of a financial, but a safety problem in Groningen.
Until now, the cabinet has said that it will only want to resort to Groningen gas if it is absolutely necessary. The House of Representatives will hold a round table discussion on Russian gas next Wednesday.