Supplement to the appeal lodged by Groningen authorities against gas decree
On March 13, 2024, the Council of State will hear the appeal filed by the Groningen authorities against the decision establishing the gas year 2023–2024. In preparation for this hearing, the authorities have submitted additional information to support the appeal they previously filed with the Council of State.
The region is doing this because it considers it important that the Council of State also take this information into account at the hearing on March 13, 2024.
NAM has an obligation of effort, not a performance obligation
The authorities believe that the final decision should be overturned, given that the State Secretary now considers that NAM has only a best-efforts obligation to extract gas from the Groningen field when the average daily temperature falls below -6.5°C. In doing so, the State Secretary is no longer adhering to what the cabinet previously agreed upon, namely that NAM must extract a quantity of gas from the Groningen field, as determined by the State Secretary, in order to avoid problems with security of supply.
A pilot light would not have been necessary in January
The decision to restart the Groningen field for two days in January caused significant social and political unrest. The local authorities interpret the letter that the State Secretary sent to the House of Representatives on January 10, 2024, as indicating that he did have the option to resolve the issue of supply security in a way other than restarting two locations in the Groningen field. According to the Groningen authorities, it was therefore not necessary to reduce the field to a pilot flame, and this should be rephrased in the final decision.
Unclear about the implications for the reinforcement
Now that the Groningen field has been on a pilot flame since January and a small amount of gas has been extracted, the Groningen authorities point out that the implications of this for the reinforcement are unclear. The authorities already pointed out this error in the final decision to the State Secretary in June 2023, but the State Secretary has still not addressed it. Furthermore, the authorities believe that the State Secretary is manipulating the figures for the reinforcement in his final decision.
Review of the gas decree
The Groningen authorities review the State Secretary’s decision for the coming gas year on an annual basis. The appeal proceedings are being conducted by the Province of Groningen, the councils , Het Hogeland, Eemsdelta, Groningen, Oldambt, Westerkwartier, Veendam, Pekela, and Westerwolde, the Groningen Safety Region, and the Noorderzijlvest and Hunze en Aa’s water boards. The province submitted the supplement to the appeal to the Council of State on behalf of these organizations.