On January 17, the Dutch High Court will have a hearing to consider demands to immediately end the gas production from the Groningen field. Local and regional authorities and even civilians have raised their concerns about seismic risks due to drilling. The Groningen region has experienced a series of minor earthquakes, with damage to thousands of houses and building caused by the gas extraction.
The government has capped Groningen production at 19.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) in the year starting from October 2018 and said it would reduce output to zero in the coming decade with a complete stop in 2030.
It is not very likely that the court will put an immediate halt to production since the Netherlands is still depending on Groningen gas for a large part of its energy supply.
Source Reuters.
