Bangladesh wins Tangratila blowout case against Niko
Bangladesh has won a case filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes against Canadian company Niko Resources (ICSID) for the blowout in Tangratila gas field at Chhatak, Sylhet on January 7, 2005.
Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, disclosed the verdict of the Washington-based arbitration court via an online videoconference from his home on Sunday (May 3).
The verdict was released on February 28 this season.
The minister told reporters that Bangladesh won the award in the international court as Niko was in charge of the blowout.
Bangladesh submitted a claim for a total loss of over US$ 1 billion within the government’s loss and also of Bapex, a Petrobangla subsidiary, he mentioned.
As Bangladesh won the case, it would not want to pay Niko $30 million against the purchase of its share of gas,” Anisur Rahman, senior secretary of the Energy Division, who took part in the videoconference, said.
Bangladesh also seized Niko’s resources at gas block 9 which the company would not be able to sell out third , verdict, he added.
Bangladesh earlier claimed a loss over $1 billion which the government’s loss is $896 while Bapex’s loss is $118 million in the blowout of the gas field, according to sources.
Niko was appointed by state-owned Petrobangla as developer of the Tangratila gas filed in jv with state-owned Bapex in 2003.
Niko started drilling the Chhatak-2 well on December 31, without the approval of the Joint Management Committee beneath the agreement. But this well met with the first blowout on January 7, 2005 in Tengratilla of Doarabazar of Sunamganj.
Niko started drilling a relief well to support the blowout in Chhatak-2 about 91 metres west of the blown out well on May 30, 2005. While the drilling was happening, another blowout occurred on June 24, 2005.
