Int'l court orders Niko to compensate $42m for Tengratila gas blowout

An international court has ordered Canadian Niko Resources Ltd company to pay US$42 million in compensation to Bangladesh for the explosion at Tengratila gas field in Sunamganj in 2005.
Niko has been made liable to pay the compensation because of its operational negligence, according to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
A senior Petrobangla official confirmed the development to the FE on Thursday.
The official also said following the verdict the Petrobangla has decided to consult the energy ministry for realization of the compensation from Niko.
However, Niko no longer operates in the country.
The Tengratila gas field was first discovered in 1959 and nine layeres of natural gas were detected the following year. But the extraction works remained halted due to the presence of water.
The government awarded a contract in 2003 to Niko for rediscovering gas and starting production activities.
During the drilling process, two major explosions occurred in the gas field, burning about 8.0 billion cubic feet of gas.
According to Petrobangla, about 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas still remains in the gas field. Petrobangla filed a lawsuit over the blowout with the ICSID after Niko declined Tk7.46 billion in compensation as demanded by the state-run petroleum corporation.

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