Dutch quakes rock European gas market

Dutch communities rattled by earthquakes are upending Europe's energy market.

Towns in the northern province of Groningen sit atop the continent's biggest gas field, where the Dutch government says exploration by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp has triggered 196 earthquakes since 2013, damaging buildings and making home sales difficult. Lawmakers, seeking support in provincial elections March 18, have responded to residents' complaints with a proposed cut in gas production, the second since December, in the hope that less output means fewer tremors.

The reductions would put the European Union in a predicament. Countries may have to turn to Russia to replace Dutch gas amid growing tensions in relations with Moscow. For the Netherlands, the bloc's biggest gas producer, less gas could reduce national income by 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.