Cuadrilla Drilling Sparks Controversy in Holland
Test drilling for shale gas is about to commence in Brabant, a province in the Southern Netherlands and a large majority of the provincial council is skeptical about the project.
Brabant Resources, a subsidiary of the Cuadrilla Resources, plans to drill the Netherlands’ first unconventional gas well in the township of Boxtel this summer. The municipality has issued a permit required for test drilling.
The target of the project is for shale gas to replace the gas reserves of Slochteren, home to the giant Groningen gas field in North Eastern Netherlands where natural gas has been drilled since the 1950's, once these are depleted.
Opposition to the drilling in Boxtel was initially quite muted with the required permit issued without drawing much attention.
However, recent protests in France and Germany against shale gas drilling and in particular, the hydraulic fracturing process involved in its extraction, seem to have helped galvanize opposition.
In two communities where these test drillings are to take place, inhabitants as well as members of city council have raised grave objections against this method of gas exploration as they believe there are dangers associated with the process.
Een Vandaag spoke with worried citizens, responsible council members, the director of the drinking water company Brabant Water, as well as a representative of Cuadrilla Resources, who is to carry out the drilling.
The planned test drilling for gas at Boxtel and Haaren is estimated to cost between 10 and 20 million Euros.
Depending on the results, the company plans to carry out further test drillings at other locations in Brabant.
Cuadrilla Resources estimates that the test period will take five years.
Interviewed citizens expressed concerns about the environmental impact and the dangerous effect this method of drilling may have on drinking water. Further, the chemicals used raise health concerns especially because the authorities have not been forthcoming about the kind of chemicals that are being used.
The representative of Cuadrilla argues that their methods are absolutely safe and that there is no problem with regard to drinking water supply.
According to Cuadrilla, the drinking water is located 300 metres under the surface whereas the drilling takes place at 3500 metres and that there are 6 of 7 steel and concrete barriers between the two.
Despite local opposition, the Dutch Government however, seems to be firmly in the unconventional gas camp.
Cuadrilla is partnering with Energie Beheer Netherlands (EBN), a natural gas exploration, production, transportation and sale company owned by the Dutch Government.
"The potential is huge. There are hundreds of billions of cubic meters of gas trapped in shales," said Jan van Diepen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
While activities at Boxtel only represent test drilling and a production license is still far in the future, local and national governments appear to two very different courses.
Ministry Spokesperson van Diepen is clear about the national government’s position on the development of shale gas.
"The national interest prevails. The licenses for gas exploration and production are at a national level issue. Although a municipality can delay but not stop."
The independent research organization TNO estimates the recoverable amount of shale gas in the Netherlands to range from in 2,400 to 11,000 billion cubic meters. By comparison, the volume of producible gas in Slochteren, amounts to about 2.8 trillion cubic meters.
Source: EenVandaag, Natural Gas for Europe Archives