The CEOs of Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) and Shell made “shameful” and false testimonies when questioned before the parliamentary committee of inquiry into natural gas production. They shouldn’t have claimed that the situation in Groningen is technically safe, because that “is not determined by oil companies, but by the government”. That said the head of the State Mining Authority (SodM), Theodor Kockelkoren, who appeared this morning on the last day of the committee’s hearing.

According to the SodM, it is not at all safe yet and thousands of houses in the area still need to be fortified. Commenting on the comments made by both NAM boss Johan Atema and Shell boss Ben van Beurden yesterday, Kockelkoren said: “I find this very disappointing. And also shameful debate. You’re missing the point.”

He also made it clear that when he took office in 2018, NAM and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) still had “four hands on one stomach”, “an unhealthy attitude that made our role more difficult”. He said of the ministry officials: “I realized that the lines between EZ and NAM were very short.”

The Ministry of Security in Groningen is also not sufficiently sensitized and he does not understand how that is possible. “How can you not feel the urgency when you see a province suffering so much?”

models unsuitable

Both NAM and Shell base their statements on safety on models from the research institute TNO, which Kockelkoren believes are actually not suitable for this: “You shouldn’t do this, you should stop doing it.”

The models provide a risk assessment of what is happening underground in the natural gas production area: how sandstone layers are pushed down by the gas production, fractures become stressed and the influence of soil types.

But what is missing, according to Kockelkoren, is the on-site inspection of the condition of a house. The models are useful, but you can’t make any statements about safety with them, he says.

The interrogation made it clear that there was a power struggle over gas production in Groningen not just ten years ago, but also four years ago. This fight took place between the regulator SodM on the one hand and NAM on the other hand as well as the shareholders Shell and ExxonMobil. Kockelkoren pointed out that the ministry had too often sided with these oil companies.

fatal

He said that state supervision gradually got involved in the reinforcement operation in Groningen. In his opinion, this was logical since strengthening homes is important to keep people safe, but officials from EZ did not consider it desirable. Kockelkoren: “The legislature determines what my job is, and not a department of the ministry.”

The Ministry and SodM also disagreed on the number of houses to be reinforced. “There was a kind of belief in the Ministry that there would be about 3,000 houses.” For Kockelkoren’s presentation, the department relied on a calculation by the NAM.

But SSM itself assumed much higher numbers. Ultimately, it is now estimated that 27,000 homes will need to be inspected, of which it is estimated that around half will need strengthening.

Kockelkoren calls the low assumption “fatal” because it led to a delay in the deployment of reinforcements and the people of Groningen are still less safe than the rest of the Netherlands. This is not only because of unsafe homes, but also because vulnerable people can die from years of stress as a result of multiple damage to their home from earthquakes.

Position of state supervision unclear

Kockelkoren is still not clear about the position of the state mining regulator. When questioned during questioning, he overheard former Economics Minister Wiebes say that the SSM also supervises the minister. “But I heard from officials: That’s not possible.” Kockelkoren believes there should be no discussion of the role of a manager.