They also called on the government to take over the Niko's share in Feni gas field as compensation for the massive waste of gas.

The Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) organised the seminar on 'The impact of Tengratila gas well blowout on the country' in the city.

Terming the Niko a small and inefficient company, the speakers criticised the government for signing a controversial agreement with it.

There was no logic in awarding the contract to Niko as the three national companies -- Bapex, BGFCL and SGFCL -- have records of successfully conducting such operations, they said.

BEA President Dr Qazi Kholiqquzzaman said the BEA formed a 'Nagorik Commission' to detect all the irregularities in all the agreements signed for gas exploration and assess the losses caused by gas field explosions.

Nuruddin Mahmud Kamal, former chairman of Power Development Board, said that former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf, former secretary Dr Tawfique Elahi Chowdhury and former chairman of Petrobangla Mosharraf Hossain are responsible for the gas field disaster.

He also pointed out many faults in the Joint Venture Agreement with the Niko. "There is no mention of fixation of price in the agreement. It was an unequal deal between the Niko and the Bapex," he said.

Presenting a keynote paper on 'Tengratila gas well blowout: Causes and consequences', Dr Badrul Imam, a professor of geology at Dhaka University, said Niko has totally failed to prevent repeated disasters at Tengratila.

He said Niko took six months to drill a relief well after the first blowout at the main well and drilled it too close to the first blowout well.

The gas field has developed many geological pockets in the sand layer where gas has spread, making further drilling highly risky, the geological expert said.

"Niko's failure to apply the 'Blowout Prevention' measure is now leading the Tengratila gas field to the stage of abandonment," he added.

"If the gas field is abandoned, the nation will suffer a loss of 270 billion cubic feet gas worth around Tk 3,500 crore," he added.

BEA General Secretary Dr Abul Barakat said that the estimated loss due to Tengratila blowout would be between Tk 3,175 crore and Tk 7,600 crore. But the amount would be much higher if other aspects are taken into consideration, he added.