The ANVS is granting Tenaz Energy Netherlands B.V. (formerly NAM Offshore B.V.) a licence for activities involving naturally occurring radioactive materials. Tenaz Energy Netherlands will be taking over part of the operations of its parent company, NAM, without any changes. NAM already holds a licence for these activities. As far as people and the environment are concerned, nothing will change. Interested parties have the right to appeal against this licensing decision until midnight on 24 December 2025.
Tenaz Energy Netherlands to operate offshore drilling rigs and Den Helder site
Tenaz Energy Netherlands will be taking over NAM’s operations on the Dutch part of the continental shelf (excluding Ameland) and at the Den Helder site. The Dutch part of the continental shelf is the part of the North Sea belonging to the Netherlands. This concerns NAM’s offshore drilling rigs to extract oil and gas here.
Tenaz Energy Netherlands is also taking over the Den Helder site where this gas comes ashore. Offshore oil and gas extraction causes the release of naturally occurring radioactive materials (in Dutch), the handling of which requires an ANVS licence.
Radioactive devices and sources for maintenance and measurements
Additionally, Tenaz Energy Netherlands will be using radioactive devices and sources currently used by NAM. These are needed to maintain all the installations and measure the depth of boreholes, for example. The licence includes these devices and sources.
We have received one statement of view regarding the draft licence for Tenaz Energy Netherlands B.V. This statement of view concerns the name change and the requirements attached to the licence.
Licence granted to Tenaz Energy Netherlands B.V.
On 1 May 2025, NAM Offshore B.V. officially changed its name to Tenaz Energy Netherlands B.V. The company has asked for the definitive licence to be granted in name of Tenaz Energy Netherlands B.V. We have considered this request and decided to approve it, as there are no adverse effects on others resulting from the name change. De definitive licence will be held by Tenaz Energy Netherlands B.V.
Disclosure requirements not adapted in licence
The company further requested clarification on which requirements in the licence relate to which specific radioactive sources. We have adapted the descriptions in the definitive licence to be clearer.
The company also believes that the licence’s requirements to provide information to the ANVS are both undesirable and unnecessary. We will not be taking over this point of view, as the requirements were already included in the licence for NAM, the parent company of NAM Ofshore B.V.). Besides, we did not receive any indications of these requirements leading to implementation problems previously. See the definitive licence for more information.
Appeals possible until 24 December
If you are an interested party and you are directly affected by our decision to grant this licence, you have the right to appeal (in Dutch) against the licensing decision (in Dutch)until 24 December 2025. This is also possible if you cannot reasonably be held accountable for having failed to submit a statement of view earlier. The deadline for submissions was 9 July 2025.
Would you like to find out more?
More information on natural radioactivity in oil and gas extraction can be found on our website (in Dutch). You can also read the official announcement in the Government Gazette (in Dutch).