How Gazprom gained influence in the Netherlands

Gazprom is much more influential in the Netherlands than is commonly thought. The company developed into an indispensable pillar of the Dutch energy supply. The Investigative Desk and Follow the Money mapped the Russian gas giant’s business interests.

Politicians from GroenLinks and D66 emphasize the political risks of the growing dependence on Russian gas, as do the Mining Council and the European Parliament. Meanwhile, the Dutch government prepares for the import of even more Russian gas in order to close the gap caused by the cessation of gas production in the Groningen field.

Gazprom extracts gas and oil in the North Sea, it holds a large share of the Dutch gas storage capacity and it supplies gas to municipalities, universities and water authorities.

Of the 284 Dutch municipalities of which data could be retrieved (from a total of 352), 120 had a contract with Gazprom Energy in 2020. With this interactive map readers can look up their own municipalities.

The Netherlands can no longer meet its own gas demand and has to increase its gas imports. Its gas mainly comes from Norway and Russia. Norway already reached its production ceiling, so it is likely that more imports from Russia will be needed in the coming years.

The Netherlands already made investments in anticipation of a greater Russian gas supply via Nord Stream 2. A majority of the European Parliament condemns this project as “Russian geopolitical weapon”, and calls for a halt.

LNG imports are an alternative source. However, our research shows that more than half of the LNG that the Netherlands imported in 2019 also came from Russia.

Read the full article on Follow The Money.