The gas tap will be allowed to open in Groningen next year in exceptional cases, for example if it gets very cold this winter. The State Council ruled in a temporary ruling that the recent gas decision issued by the Council of Ministers should not be suspended. This is what the Groningen authorities and residents of the earthquake zone demanded.

The Council of Ministers decided not to extract more gas during the current gas year (which starts from October 1 to September 30) due to earthquake risks. The gas tap was shut off on October 1 of this year, but the Cabinet kept tight control: the gas wells will remain on the trial burner for a year, and can still be used in the event of an extreme emergency.

According to the province of Groningen, the water boards, the safety district and all the municipalities of Groningen, the terms of this decision were ambiguous. That’s why they walked To the judge To get more clarity on this topic.

For example, they wanted to know under what conditions the gas tap would be opened again and at what scale this would happen. “The rules set by the Secretary of State are unclear and contradictory,” they wrote in a joint letter.

The State Council did not agree to this and it is noteworthy that the Minister of State for Mining Vegelbriov had made this sufficiently clear in the gas decision. For example, in an emergency, a maximum of 1.5 billion cubic meters can be extracted RTV North.

According to the Supreme Administrative Court, the decision does not have any significant impact on safety in the earthquake zone. In addition, in the event of an emergency, there is currently no suitable alternative to temporary gas extraction.

The case before the Council of State was an emergency measure, comparable to summary proceedings. Hence, the ruling is an interim ruling. The gas decision will be discussed in more detail in the spring. The State Council will then make the final decision.