Gas have been pumped from the massive northern Groningen field since 1963, but residents have been terrorised by increasingly violent earthquakes for more than two decades, directly attributed to mining operations.
"The parties involved believe that the field can be closed this year if you look at the data," Van Loon told the WNL television talk show. "Perhaps it's uncomfortable to really quit something like this during an energy crisis... but it has to be done," said Van Loon, who steps down as the Dutch-based arm of Shell's president at the end of the month.
Shell Netherlands and ExxonMobil have an equal stake in the NAM, the company responsible for drawing gas from Groningen since the early 1960's.
_Business Bring him to the town square and we'll shoot him