US petroleum giant ExxonMobil has invoked the controversial Energy Charter Treaty in a potential multi-billion euro compensation claim – an apparent bid to pressure the Netherlands’ new right-wing government over the shuttering of Europe’s largest gas field in Groningen.
ExxonMobil has sued the Dutch government for its 2018 decision to ramp down gas production in Groningen after years of extraction-linked earthquakes.
The petroleum giant’s claim, which could potentially run to billions of euros, appears to be prompted by the recent change of government, as Mark Rutte, who served as liberal prime minister for 14 years, was ousted after a swing to the right in 2023 elections.
“It is our view that the previous government had no intention of reaching an amicable settlement,” ExxonMobil said in a social media post on Monday evening.
The energy multinational said the Rutte government had taken “unilateral measures that arbitrarily disadvantaged ExxonMobil as an investor” and that had “damaged its confidence in the Dutch investment climate”.