- Client: Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK)
- Implementation period: September, 2017 - November, 2017 (Completed)
- Geographic coverage: The Netherlands
- Theme: Energy
- Topic: Energy Policy Regulation and Markets
- Experts: Jurgen Vermeulen, Joris Moerenhout
What is the impact of the changed legislation on the availability and the costs of emergency oil stocks in the Netherlands?
In 2012, the legislation on emergency oil stock in the Netherlands was amended. A new law (the Wva 2012) was implemented to incorporate the EU Directive 2009/119/EC in the Netherlands and to increase the availability in the holdings of emergency stocks which can be released in emergency cases so that our daily lives are not immediately affected.
Trinomics evaluated the new legislation and assessed its efficiency and effectiveness in order to support the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) to improve the legislation on emergency oil stocks in the light of the changing characteristics of the energy market in the near future. Besides evaluating the law itself, it was compared with the previous law, the choices made by Dutch policy makers regarding the emergency oil stocks system were evaluated and its effect on the Dutch economy was assessed.
The key findings of the evaluation are:
- The Wva 2012 enabled an efficient and effective emergency oil stocks systems and it has led to more security of supply compared to the previous law.
- Increasing the obligation for emergency oil stocks for the private sector while decreasing the obligation for the state-owned Central Stockholding Entity could possibly further enhance the efficiency.
- The Wva 2012 did not lead to market distortions within the Dutch market.
- The Dutch emergency oil stocks system is future proof (as a result of the implementation of the Wva 2012).
The project was conducted by Trinomics. The project ran from September 2017 to January 2018. The report was published on the website of the Dutch ministry here.