The Dutch government announces that it will stop exploration for any new onshore oil and gas fields, and exploration will be limited to gas fields under the North Sea.
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To reduce the risk of earthquakes.. The Netherlands has stopped exploration for new onshore gas fields
The Dutch government said on Friday it would halt exploration for any new onshore oil and gas fields, in a bid to meet its climate targets and reduce risks related to seismic activity.
The government has said that exploration will be limited to gas fields under the North Sea, which will continue to be needed as the country seeks to reduce dependence on Russian gas.
Read also: The Netherlands and Germany are jointly exploring for gas in the North Sea
Work in onshore gas fields will be limited to those where exploration has already been permitted, and no new permits will be granted for onshore oil exploration.
“We still need gas as we transition to sustainable alternatives, but we don’t need oil to ensure that households are powered,” said Dutch Deputy Minister for Mining Hans Villebreef.
The Netherlands has long been one of the main gas suppliers to Europe, through the huge Groningen field in the north of the country.
But gas production there has fallen to its lowest levels in recent years due to its efforts to reduce earthquake risks in the region, and is scheduled to stop next year.
The Netherlands has regarding 175 small onshore gas fields that can provide regarding 400 billion cubic meters of gas.
Also read: Netherlands: An earthquake near the largest gas field in Europe
It is noteworthy that the Council of the European Union announced, on December 22, the adoption of a mechanism to cap gas prices in the markets.
For its part, Russia considered that the European Union would thus take a political, not an economic, decision that entails risks to supply blue fuel to the European market, noting that the Europeans, in this decision, want to transform Russian gas for markets other than theirs.
In the context, the Dutch Energy Minister, Rob Yetten, revealed that “it is impossible to guarantee Fill Dutch gas tanks And the European Union until next winter, due to the “reduction in gas supplies from Russia.”
It came following that Russia’s Gazprom GroupLast May, gas supplies to the Netherlands were reduced following the Dutch energy company, Gas Terra, refused to complete the ruble payment following the Russian operation in Ukraine.
