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Niko solely blamed for blowout

Probe body submits report; govt waits for 2 other investigation reports

Sharier Khan
An energy ministry probe committee has solely blamed the operation failure of Niko Resources for the second blowout in the Chatak gas field at Tengratila in June.
The Canadian explorer was also found guilty of operational failure in another investigation after the first blowout at the same multi-million-dollar gas field on January 7.
The seven-member committee, headed by Dr Anwarul Azim, submitted an 11-page report to Energy Advisor Mahmudur Rahman yesterday, winding up its nearly two month long investigation.
Azim, vice-chancellor of the Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), told journalists that several committee members had suggested scrapping the joint venture agreement between well operator Niko and state-run Bapex.
"But the report did not incorporate the suggestion as it was not under the terms of reference (TOR) of the committee," he said.
As per international practice and the unsolicited contract with Niko, the Canadian operator is to be held solely responsible for the disaster.
"Neither Petrobangla nor Bapex can be blamed for anything in this regard," a committee member told The Daily Star.
However, Energy Adviser Mahmudur Rahman yesterday told the press the government will discuss with legal experts before taking action against Niko when it receives investigation reports from two other committees-- one is assessing the loss in gas reserves and the other is determining the environmental damage.
"We expect the report on gas loss to be submitted by August 31 and environmental damage by September 30," Rahman said.
The report also noted that the second blowout inside six months could perhaps have been averted had Niko's relief well contractor chosen a better option.
"The Niko contractor had two options when it reached a precarious situation on June 23 while trying to drill the relief well. It either could control the sudden kicks by letting the gas flow out and burning it down or manage the gas pressure by using mud," said a committee member.
"The committee felt that the better option was to use mud technology. We experienced a similar situation in January where Niko tried to flow out the highly pressurised gas and that led to the first blowout," he added.
The investigators also found lack of teamwork in Niko's operation. A small company, Niko relies heavily on contractors, whose commitment and accountability were shrouded in questions. The company has less than a dozen staff on its payroll.
"Some staff on contract visited the gas field only once. A few hurriedly left the spot soon after the disaster instead of helping tame the raging fire," said another investigator.
Niko hired a US company after the first blowout to carry out the drilling of a relief well. "The chief was a leading blowout expert, but the field staff never worked on a relief well before," he said.
The probe committee, however, did not find any fault in Niko's planning for the relief well.
Niko, which was found disqualified on technical and financial grounds during the evaluation of the second round block bidding in 1997, is now drilling a so-called 'data well' for geological information of the area damaged in two major blowouts. Thereafter it will draw up its plan for a second relief well to plug the hole in the main well.
But sources at the energy ministry are highly critical of the Niko move. "This move will drive the last nail in the coffin of the 260 billion cubic feet (bcf) gross reserve. The Tengratila field will continue to burn till December," said an energy expert.
"You need to plug the hole through a relief well as soon as possible. I'm not sure if the government would ever be able to put any pressure on Niko," he said in frustration.
The energy advisor earlier said that the government will collect due compensation from the Niko by blocking its payment against gas bill from the Feni field, also jointly developed by Niko and Bapex. Experts, however, contradicted his line of thinking, saying that as per contract the government can not legally tag Feni with Tengratila.