With the blowout passing into the fifth day and the raging blaze blowing away gas worth millions of dollar a day, Niko Resources, the Canadian operator of the joint venture, did literally nothing to tame the flames or limit the damage.

"The way the raging fire continues to go wilder, I'm afraid the blowout might have driven the last nail in the coffin of the 260 billion cubic feet (bcf) gross reserve," Prof Badrul Imam of Department of Geology at Dhaka University told The Daily Star.

"And if that happens, the explorer will have no way but to eventually abandon the gas field," he said.

Experts both at Petrobangla and Bapex confirmed that the fire has already blazed out of Niko control and that the Canadian firm can only wait until the fire dies down exhausting the reserves or a miracle underground earth layer movement takes place to seal the gas leaks.

According to the estimates of the explorers, the gas reserves below the first layer at 550 metres are no less than 115bcf and the gas loss has been initially forecast at Tk 1,150 crore ($185m).

But experts now fear that this major blowout might have destroyed the vast structure in its entirety, killing chances of further commercial extraction.

"The loss of gas reserves alone would be double than what has been predicted in the media. The 260bcf gross reserves will be no less than Tk 2,600 crore ($322 million) at current market rate," a top Bapex official said, wishing anonymity in fear of possible wrath from a powerful lobby that has sided with Niko all the way to the disasters, environmental damage of which is yet to be assessed.

Geologists and drilling experts have no hesitation in singling out Niko for the twin Tengratila disasters and expressed shock at the strange reaction of energy ministry Adviser Mahmudur Rahman who blasted none but two local companies for monitoring failure before suspending two officials of Bapex-- the partner of the highly controversial explorer Niko.

A Petrobangla expert said Niko committed the same crime twice, nakedly exposing their dubious credentials as explorers.

The first blowout took place due to faulty well design and wrong drilling while the second was the consequence of the post-blowout mishandling by Niko, he said.

He observed that Niko was too sluggish to drill a relief well after the first blowout on January 7, possibly turning about 100sqkm area around the structure into a virtual 'minefield' for any exploration.

A relief well should be drilled immediately, preferably within a week, after any blowout, Imam said.

But Niko sat on it for six months to let the gas channel through ground layers and then drilled the relief well up to 350 metres when a sudden kick from high-pressured gas pocket led to the blowout.

Imam, a leading exploration expert in the country, termed the sudden fluctuation in gas pressure all too natural after any blowout and slammed Niko for its failure in handling the situation.

The structure of the main reserves 550 metres below the surface were understood to have been badly damaged in the first blowout. Worse still, gas spread through the soft sand layers above it, creating numerous gas pockets of varying pressures at different depths.

"Niko should have been expecting a major kick from the gas pockets all the time, and it had to have the capability to control any unwarranted situation," Imam said.

Niko has no excuse in their defence to justify its unprepared position, especially after the January experience with the Tengratila structure, he said. "You don't need to be an expert to know the existence of high-pressured gas pockets after such an accident."

Besides, Niko ignored a Petrobangla advice to drill relief well far away from the main well, he pointed out.

Though rallies and human chains across the country demanded immediate cancellation of the controversy-ridden agreement and Niko to pay dearly for its mistakes, Bapex and Petrobangla remained highly sceptic about the government acting wisely to protect national interests.

"The government did not go tough on Niko after the first blowout although investigations held it solely responsible for the accident. All investigations this time will also embrace the same fate. The prompt suspension of two Bapex staff is what we say morning shows the day," said a top ex-Bapex staff. "Powerful friends will surely help Niko get off the hook once again."

The plundering of Tengratila reminds many geologists of the blowout way back in 1955 at the Sylhet Gas Field. The explorer, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, had then failed to manage the post-blowout situation and it could not even plug the well, leaving a highly rich gas field on its deathbed.

"Gas still oozes from that well after all these decades and you can even light a fire there. We take our students there for study tours every year," said Imam.

And, thanks to Niko, a horde of geology students may well flock to Tengratila in the future to witness the grave of what once happened to be a promising gas field as a case study.

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