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ANALYSIS |
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In one of those coincidental tricks of history, soon after the morning sun appeared in Brahmanbaria on 18 April 2007, a huge gas flare was witnessed by frightened residents in and around Titas gas field. People knew something was happening for quite sometime. But, neither the Bangladesh Gas Field Company Limited (BGFCL) professionals were worried, nor even the real master’s sitting in air-conditioned offices in the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka were perturbed. To be candid, this was an expected incident because the omissions in operation of the Titas gas field were deliberate and unpardonable. There has also been a behind the scene battle between the BGFCL and BAPEX about where to begin the surgical operation, if at all it had to be done. The culprit well No 3 at Titas gas field was drilled 38 years ago as a vertical well (in 1969) at a depth of 9315 feet by M/S Shell Oil Company, while the vulnerable well No 10 was drilled as deviated well in 1988 by BGFCL at a depth of 12,138 feet. In total, sixteen production wells were drilled in the said gas field and they were all producing a total of over 400 million cubic feet (mmcf) per day, almost one third of Bangladesh’s total production of gas until 2006. In 2007, the country wide total production of gas rose to 1600 mmcfd highest one day production peaked to 1670 mmcfd in April 2007. In itself, the event at Titas field raised large doubts about the future development of gas in Bangladesh. It has also threatened the policy planners. Altogether, the disaster and the company sponsored gas flare, after about ten to twelve months of gas leakages seen in many locations, contributes to the gloom pessimism, and even fanaticism that is now gripping the country. Based on the initial media information, a 20mmcf/day continuous flare would mean a loss of us $60million (@US $3/mmcf per day as a minimum estimate). The daily Financial Express published on 20 April 2007 informed that BGFCL flared 86 million cubic feet of gas worth about 82 lakh in three days. This appears to be a calculation mistake, either the taka amount is wrong on the volume of gas burned or both. However based on the stated volume of flared gas the estimated loss was US $258@US $3/mmcf although the international market price of gas (LNG or piped gas) varies between US $5 to 8 per mcf gas. Even if 86mmcf gas loss is considered, the minimum loss would be estimated at Tk. 755 crore, a huge sum indeed! If the authorities took adequate precaution in time and hired an internationally reputed independent expert (such as Redair of USA), then the company could not only have saved the well but also save the citizens from dangerous living. Regrettably, the efforts made to redeem the situation by the Ministry of Energy and the BGFCL has been negligible. They were most unwilling to take the standard actions in such a scenario. And in any case, it is unclear whether the official trigger point for improving the long exposed risky situation remained unnoticed or ignored by the country’s experts engaged in the BGFCL. Unhappily, there was no apparent sense of urgency to formulate an action plan to mitigate sporadic gas leakages that were visible for months. The farmers of Brahmanbaria continuously cautioned the officials of BGFCL, but they thought those were simply hocus-pocus, or even a hoax. The company and the Ministry of Energy did not even seek external assistance to remedy the problem until the disaster occurred. Nobody knows whom to believe. Credibility, in regard to the gas industry operators in Bangladesh, is in short supply as gas is. Yet, each one of them was flooding the media with Band-Aid type solutions. The BGFCL and the Ministry of Energy were trying to defend themselves, while some uninformed or less knowledgeable Petrobangla officials were delivering their novice like responses as publicity stunts. The nation’s traumatic experience has now posed some vital questions to the government. How did the gas field enter into this mess? How will the problem be remedied and how soon? How the killing of well No 3 will affect the country’s gas supply? How much it will cost to repair, revamp and maintain the Titas gas field including drilling of 5 to 6 new production wells? Whether BGFCL have adequate funds in their banks to conduct the proposed works (if not where their funds have gone)? Why BAPEX and BGFCL recruitment of geologists, engineers and their training is being delayed? Finally what should the government do about the damaged Titas gas field? People are expecting quick and easy answers not bureaucratic overtures. Some of the solutions will take more time than people would like to believe. But, with our good sense of understanding we can figure out what’s right, or what’s wrong, or reasonable if we have all the facts. Collecting facts are crucial. However, it is no wonder that there are so many misconceptions in the gas domain. But one must appreciate that this particular problem did not develop overnight. Regular monitoring of the wells (Sixteen in total) were perhaps absent. Hardly any shut-down of any sick well (No, 3 or 10 in particular) was done with regard to down hole pressure checking or resetting of sub- surface safety valves or the production tubing etc. If it is true, sheer negligence of the professionals is the culprit. There is however an allegation that the gas supply system in Bangladesh had passed through some conspiracies to create gas shortage during 2005-06 when instead of the public sector enterprise, the IOCs were encouraged to drill production wells and meet the demand forecast. At least two policy planners the former state Minister Mr. A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain and former energy advisor Mr. Mahmudur Rahman’s despicable and despotic action ruined the system. People will never pardon them for such crooked actions. The energy secretary Mr. AM Nasiruddin is the chairman of the BGFCL Board, under whose inactive supervision the disaster at Titas gas field occurred. So, he will have to explain. The people are saddened to find that in the recent years there has not been increasing concern over the threat to public safety and loss of national property caused by the failure of IOCs in general and now by BGPCL in particular. Truly, BGFCL have failed to provide adequate safety standards in Titas gas field. Yet, except people in general there has not been strong criticism of IOC management in respect of Magurchhara and Tengratila gas blowouts. This blow-out clearly reflects incompetence of the IOCs. Former Energy Secretary Dr. Toufiq-e-Elahi ignored the impact of blowouts as mere accidents. He even concealed the official report on Magurchhara blowout. The question for consideration are, therefore the actions of IOCs and their senior managers could be exposed to criminal liability for incompetence and failures to act when the safety of the Bangladeshi public was put at risk. Consequently, if such company liability was accepted, then it was the supervisory Ministry’s responsibility to take necessary actions. The same applies to BGFCL’s lax in supervision and monitoring of the Titas gas field. Subsequent to Magurachhara it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy to enact law to ensure effective enforcements. But the Ministry remained as callous as ever. Even in the absence of such a law, the present case of disaster at Titas must be investigated upon thoroughly to assign responsibility and award punishment. This should include the Energy secretary Mr. AMM Nasiruddin, who also happens to be the chairman of the Board of Directors of BGFCL for a long time. Very recently, he has taken a fancy to finalize the anti-people coal policy, which would harm the nation in the long run. Reportedly, he has also been given the responsibility to chair a search committee for the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) which has already turned into a cripple organization. The chairman of BERC is reported to be a kitchen room member of a political party boss. How can the people expect an independent BERC? The issue of company liability arises in situations in which individuals at the moral center of the society could be identified as being criminals in the eye of our societies. Let me quote a sentence from Mr. Mohammad Nurul Huda. It states,” The impression one get in that although corporations and companies are formally subjected to the criminal law, practically they remain outside the ambit. The present approach which seldom attributes criminal liability to companies or their directors/managers reflects the general influence of political individualism in criminal law theory.” As for myself I have no knowledge about the particular law and legal provisions, but I know that the guilty person persons should be penalized. What really follows from the above is that only individuals can act and therefore, it is right to concentrate attention on the shame worthy individuals. Naturally, this strengthens the motion of individual responsibility, with intention being the central concept in attributing criminal shame. As respectable citizens of Bangladesh, we would expect the Energy Advisor takes serious note on the current gas flare issue at Titas gas field and set an example for future guidance in the energy sector. Indeed, the failings that occurred in Magurchhara by M/s Occidental / Unocal and Tengratila by Niko has not been comprehensively looked into by the government in general and the then secretary, Energy in particular. Adequate and appropriate enquiries would have revealed an unusual catalogue of corruption incompetence relating to foreign companies (known as IOCs) to many levels of operation and management and design. It might be possible now to identify responsible management decisions of the operating companies as well as that of Petrobangla and the Ministry of Energy in this case which contributed to operational dangers and the same could be linked to the cause and effect or the disaster at Titas. There is no doubt that the efforts that were made by the authorities to contain the long drawn gas leakages were slow, disorderly and unprofessional. The legacy of a 50 years old company (Shell Oil) has been tarnished by its successor company BGFCL. In view of the discussions above it may not be wrong to presume that a full and comprehensive investigation into the present disaster (at Titas) would lead to the conclusion that the underlying or cardinal faults lay in the higher ups of the company. Perhaps, this is because of their lack of professional experience and understanding on such issues. But why didn’t they fallow the (standard) laid down procedure or the company? Above all, what did the unofficial holding corporation (Petrobangla) been doing to help remedy the situation except showing their faces in front of TV cameras? The directing complement may not have appreciated their responsibility and as such did not apply their mind as to the specifics of safety devices. The 38 to 45 years old gas wells at Titas (particularly well Nos. 5, 7, 9 and 10) should have been monitored regularly. The relevant quarry is, whether BGFCL was aware of the risk it was running and the failing to act it was subjectively reckless. A legal practitioner friend of mine told me that in principle, the company and its chief executive be charged for causing destruction of national wealth. To sum up, such disasters occurring in Bangladesh are it under the management of IOCs or local gas companies are strongly suspected to be attributable to high levels of neglect and that should be the ultimate responsibility of the higher management. It is thus only natural that individuals who enjoy many financial benefits / rewards and advantages from the Board of Directors of BGFCL should not be insulated from criminal responsibility when things go wrong. Company’s status must not be to protect higher management when casualties result from the inactions of the company, that too in such a great scale. To conclude, perhaps it was not only a question of huge gas leakages, but also of power and complacencies. Couldn’t the authorities (including the chairman of the BGFCL Board) seek assistance from outside the country (if in country professionals were unable to do so) to redeem the issue. They have now done it: But, in the meantime the unwanted disaster and huge financial loss incurred. In this connection, it is necessary to appreciate that non professionals should not be placed at the decision making positions either in Petrobangla or in BGFCL or in Bapex. If seniority is the criteria, then either a driver of a peon or an accounts clerk be made the chairman. With energy mattes rising on the political agenda, it is fervently requested that the Energy Advisor should seriously try and appreciate the gravity of the situation. The nation has already incurred huge loss in many respects. My personal opinion is that the issue deserves to be discussed in the council of Advisors meeting. And this may please be done now not tomorrow. We no more want to live dangerously with gas supply in Bangladesh Nuruddin Mahmud Kamal: former Additional secretary and former chairman, Power Development Board. |
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