Dutch Moratorium

摘要

The Netherlands has ruled out commercial exploration or production of shale gas until 2020 and won't renew existing shale gas licenses. The cabinet agreed on Jul. 10 to the proposals from Economy Minister Henk Kamp. The government has since 2013 commissioned several socio-economic studies into shale, including potential revenues and costs, but test drilling has yet to take place and it's unclear how much shale gas is present. Given concerns about the earthquakes caused by production from the Groningen conventional gas field, shale was likely too hot a potato for the government (WGI Jun.24'15). But it will decide later this year whether shale gas production, as well as geothermal energy, are desirable as future options.