ExxonMobil, a shareholder in Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), threatened to pull the gas extraction plug in Groningen in 2017. Rolf de Jong, chief executive of the Dutch subsidiary, told the investigation committee on Friday. If the state didn’t take the wheel, it was”Deal canceledfor the oil company.
In the end, the Cabinet took over and the so-called production commitment was introduced. This means that the Non-Aligned Movement is obligated to implement what the Minister sets.
As a result, legal responsibility passed to the state. ExxonMobil insisted on this due to a court ruling. In April 2017, it ruled that a criminal investigation into the Non-Aligned Movement was necessary, for putting the residents of Groningen at risk.
“This was a shocking announcement,” said Rolf de Jong, who has led the Dutch subsidiary of ExxonMobil since 2016. It prompted him to wonder if his CEO, Darren Woods, could speak to the government.
De Jong feared that the NAM staff, who had acted with “the best of intentions and the best of intentions”, could be prosecuted for “the simple fact that they did not want to leave the Netherlands in the open”.
Marjane van Loon, chief executive of Dutch Shell, also said on Thursday that this ruling had serious consequences. She explained that Shell would shut down the gas field in question in all other cases, but that was not possible in Groningen due to the security of supply. Shell is the other contributor to NAM.
Senior men visit Prime Minister Rutte
More than two months later, in July 2017, CEO Woods and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden met with outgoing Prime Minister Mark Root. De Jong admitted that they insisted on a commitment to win. Norwegian Refugee Council And the Al Shamal newspaper This was revealed earlier on the basis of the required documents.
During the meeting, objectives were set for broader negotiations between the oil companies and the state. The production commitment became one aspect of the so-called mainline agreement, which was eventually concluded.
The oil companies finally concluded this agreement with the state in 2018, after a long period of negotiations. De Jong: “This was very difficult, but the negotiators fully understood this requirement (production commitment, editor).”
Agreements on benefits and charges have also been entered into
New agreements were also entered into in the agreement on benefits and encumbrances. Until 2012, gas extraction costs were dwarfed by revenue. The Huizinge earthquake changed that. Gas extraction has been phased out, and thus revenue has declined, while costs have increased as a result of reinforcements and claims processing.
For years, the state took nearly 90 percent of the profits, but bore 60 percent of the costs. These agreements were revised in 2018. The state would have paid 73% of the costs and revenue fell from 90% to 70%.
And the Audit Bureau published, at the end of last month, an update of the state’s natural gas revenues. These amounts amount to 454 billion euros until 2021. This amount has been adjusted for inflation. This means that calculating the amount takes into account the fact that prices have risen over the years. For example, the guilder in 1970 was more valuable than it was in 2000.
