“Regret, shame and sadness” are the emotions Shell CEO Ben van Beurden looks back on the problems caused by gas production in Groningen. Van Beurden was questioned this morning by the parliamentary inquiry into natural gas production in Groningen.

Van Beurden has been CEO of Shell since 2014 and soon had to deal with the disappearance of support for gas production in Groningen. According to the CEO, Groningen is unique to Shell because the field is underground where many people live.

According to Van Beurden, the severe earthquake in Huizinge 10 years ago completely turned the mining process upside down. Support for gas production continued to wane as claims settlement did not get off to a good start. The reinforcement of the houses also made no progress. In addition, Shell came under increasing public and political fire.

earthquake normal

Van Beurden initially believed that Shell should aim to see earthquakes as a normal part of gas production again. “It was believed that there was a subsidence and a crack here and there in a house.” Van Beurden called it naïve that Shell thought it could return to the old situation.

What really impressed the CEO of Shell was a conversation with Annemarie Heite. She is a well-known Groninger who has often drawn attention to the earthquake problem in the media.

“Do you ever worry that your children won’t wake up in the morning?” Heite Van Beurden would have asked. No, was his answer. This was the case for Heite and she asked whether Van Beurden wanted to take this into account.

Criminal

In 2017, Van Beurden realized that the Groningen gas field was a hopeless case for the multinational. It all had to do with an impending criminal case provoked by the Groningen ground movement. “That was a game changerhe explained.

Suddenly the company was accused of endangering people’s lives by extracting gas. “I found that quite difficult. We may have acted criminally in Groningen.”

He points out that this gas extraction took place in a public-private partnership with the Dutch state. “Criminal prosecution is impossible. That was a predetermined breaking point,” said the Shell boss. Both Van Beurden and Exxon CEO Darren Woods, also a half-owner of NAM, wanted to stop gas production in Groningen immediately with the prospect of this criminalization.

If this problem was not solved by the state, the companies wanted to present a production plan with zero gas production. “So it was that high,” said Van Beurden. In his opinion, it took a long time for the government to respond to the call for help. But in the end, Shell’s request to stop was accepted.

Technically safe

Van Beurden also said he wants to invest “many billions” in Groningen. He also discussed this with the local administrators. Groningen is now technically secure, he believes. According to him, this security is due to the limitation of gas extraction. But he realizes it’s not just about that.

“I don’t think it’s the experience Groninger have. The only way people can feel safe again is when their house has been inspected.” The house inspections are far from complete, and many people are unsettled.

Commission Chair Van der Lee pointed out that recent calculations by a panel of scientists show there is still a risk of a magnitude 4.6 quake. Also, not every house in Groningen meets the legal safety standard. But according to Van Beurden, it relies on TNO models and it remains important to keep looking at the latest findings.