Safety Board: Dutch Gas Field Earthquake Dangers Ignored for Decades

Production could be as low as an annual 35 bcm if studies indicate that a higher level is unsafe and if the Netherlands can still fill delivery contracts, he has said.

Opposition parties, which are expected to strip control of the Senate from Rutte's ruling coalition after March 18 elections, have pushed for an annual cap of 30 bcm.

NAM said it would increase safety by funding construction improvements at 8,000 houses and inspecting another 15,000 homes. It will also launch an independent inquiry.

"The uncertainty about earthquakes is larger than was assumed in the past," NAM head Gerald Schotman said in a statement. "We understand the residents' feelings of anxiety and insecurity."

Gas extraction has resulted in increasingly strong earth tremors, some measuring as much as 3.6 on the Richter scale.

The cost of damage repairs, structural improvements to buildings, and compensation for home value decreases has been estimated at 6.5 billion euros. Around 35,000 homes are said to be affected, parliament heard last week.

Dutch gas exports in 2012 totalled nearly 57.3 bcm, or around 12 percent of Europe's gas demand, about 75 percent of it from the Groningen field.