Groningen and North Drenthe urge JA21 to drop gas-field reserve bill

Regional authorities in Groningen and North Drenthe are urging JA21 not to submit a bill that would preserve parts of the Groningen gas field as a reserve, saying it would undermine the promise to close the field permanently. [1]

The regions say permanent closure was the first measure in Nij Begun, a programme for social and economic recovery after gas extraction. More than two years after production stopped, many residents still face its effects, they say, and those consequences are expected to continue for decades.

Groningen deputy Susan Top, speaking for the regional authorities, said closure had offered the prospect that the source of insecurity, damage and uncertainty would disappear. Keeping wells open and allowing new extraction would put that assurance under pressure, she said.

The regions say they recognise the importance of a reliable energy supply. But they point to the parliamentary inquiry into Groningen gas extraction, which exposed what can happen when national economic and energy interests outweigh residents’ safety.

JA21 leader Joost Eerdmans has said the party is not proposing to resume gas production, but wants Groningen’s gas reserves retained for strategic use. He has called filling the wells with concrete a “historic blunder”. [1]