Clifford Chance

Shale gas decision in the Netherlands postponed to 2015

3 February 2014

Revenues for the Dutch Government from the sales of natural gas amount to billions of Euros every year, but as new gas fields are rarely discovered in the Netherlands, in the long run natural gas may cease to be an important income source for the country. The aim of the Netherlands is to keep existing 'mature fields' in business for as long as possible, but opportunities also seem to exist for the safe development of new reserves, such as tight gas, shale gas and coal bed methane, although as with the rest of Europe, a number of environmental and safety concerns could hinder the future development of this sector. In fact, the Dutch government has already announced that no test drilling will take place for shale gas in the country until the completion of another new nationwide study, due to be published in 2015.

Download PDF