The Groningen gas field in the Netherlands has enough untapped capacity to replace much of the fuel western Europe once imported from Russia, but drilling has led to repeated earthquakes Koen Schuiling, the mayor of Groningen in the far north of the Netherlands, is explaining howhave reached his 18th-century, neo-classical city hall. “You can feel in this building – and you can see the damage, the cracks,” he sighs. “Everyone feels it in Groningen.
. But some 60 years after the gas was first discovered, the entire region is wobbling from earthquakes and tremors linked to drilling. There are up to 100 tremors annually, at a relatively low magnitude, but they can still cause damage as the epicentre is just under two miles deep, and through soft clay over sand, which amplifies seismic activity.
Some 450 billion cubic metres of recoverable gas are thought to lie in the field, worth around €1trn . In 2013, Groningen pumped out around 54 bcm, about 10 per cent of Europe’s gas needs, but last year it reached just 4.6 bcm.The Dutch treasury has grown from Groningen gas. Of the €428bn earned from the gas field over the past 60 years, the state received €363.7bn. However, less than one per cent of that total flowed back to Groningen, whose community feels sidelined by the government and NAM.
It is unclear when the earthquakes will end, even after the drilling stops, with some suggesting two years and others saying two decades.
There is zero chance of an earthquake in Holland.
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