The Pumpjacks of Schoonebeek - Nieuw-Schoonebeek

In 1930, the Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (BPM) began investigating whether oil and gas could be found beneath the soil of Drenthe. In 1942, the first well was drilled near Coevorden in the Steenwijkermeer using a wooden derrick. They reached a depth of 1,209 metres but found nothing. A year later, the German occupiers ordered drilling to resume. This time, oil was struck. It turned out to be the largest oil field in the Netherlands, and even one of the biggest in Europe.

But the oil in Schoonebeek was different. Instead of being light and yellow, it was thick and heavy. Special pumps were needed to extract it from the ground: the so-called pumpjacks, those nodding machines moving up and down.

In 1947, the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) was founded. They took over oil sales and installed pumpjacks and other equipment in Schoonebeek. The village grew and flourished thanks to the economic boom that came with the oil, something much needed after the war.

On 9 November 1976, a drilling rig exploded. A loud bang echoed through the village, and for two days, oil, sand and water shot into the air. Houses and roads were coated in a thick layer of oily sludge. A major clean-up followed.

Oil was pumped from Schoonebeek until 1996. When oil prices dropped, it was no longer profitable. Much of the equipment was removed, but a few pumpjacks remain today as reminders of the past.