Financially the situation will translate into a loss of Tk 1,575 crore or US$ 22.5 million worth of precious energy resource of the country in just 45 days in the best case scenario.

The situation would not reach the current dire state had the energy ministry understood the gravity of Titas Gas Field's problems as had been pointed out by eight energy experts in The Daily Star in early February. The Daily Star reports on the uncontrolled leakage of gas at Titas gave adequate warnings that the situation could lead to a blowout. The eight experts also submitted their report to Petrobangla with their opinions in early February.

The Daily Star quoted the experts, who requested anonymity, as saying that the government should immediately hire an experienced international contractor and a foreign expert who would guide the authorities into a proper course of action for saving the gas field and the precious national resource.

The Daily Star also printed a photograph showing how gas was leaking through a hole in a paddy field and burning in Brahmanbaria. The reports attached the highest importance to the need for addressing the problem since Titas Gas Field is the country's energy sector's lifeblood.

Yet after the first report, officials concerned became defensive for unknown reasons and tried to convince the decision makers that the angle of the photograph made the gas leakage look magnified in the paddy field and that such leakages in the locality 'were not unusual', although in that specific case, there were 'some reasons' to be careful about it.

While the government should have acted with utmost priority, it proceeded on the matter with a seemingly 'business-as-usual' approach instead. The matter was discussed at the Bangladesh Gas Field Company Ltd (BGFCL) board, headed by the energy secretary.

BGFCL, which owns Titas Gas Field, itself shared the views of the eight experts who recommended hiring an experienced international consultant for the job of fixing the wells and plugging the leaks. But in late February, the BGFCL board depended on two 'experts' on its board one from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and another, a retired Petrobangla official. These experts ruled out the necessity for hiring any foreign consultant saying that it would impose unnecessary costs and they thought Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Company Ltd (Bapex) was good enough for the job.

None of these experts had actually analysed the problematic facts lying with Titas Gas Field. The expert from Buet does not even have the necessary field experience to back up his confident opinion.

Nonetheless, without a second thought the BGFCL board assigned the job to Bapex which is a competent exploration company despite its limitations of fund and technology. However, Bapex is not an expert in handling such troubles in a fully operational large gas field like Titas.

Again, the Bapex board, which is also headed by the energy secretary, accepted the BGFCL assignment without assessing whether it had the technology, knowledge base and the capability to handle a disaster and to solve Titas Gas Field's problems.

Meanwhile as the leakage of gas remained steady at the field, the authorities were apparently convinced that there was nothing to worry about and that the media had sensationalised the problem. Consequently, high officials instructed the officers concerned not to talk to the media. The instruction was based on the principle of -- no news, no problem a much discredited philosophy for avoiding responsibilities.

Bapex mobilised its rig at the site in March and started working on well number 3 on Friday. It tried to 'kill' the well, which was showing serious gas pressure anomalies, by pumping in special chemicals and heavy mud. At one point, the gas pressure went out of control and a blowout became inevitable until Bapex deliberately put fire to the gas uncontrollably leaking through various apertures, averting a blowout and possible damage to the gas field's inner structure.

Given Bapex's limitations, it did the best it could.

But the energy ministry had no limitation in choosing remedial actions in February it could have simply asked for operational help from any of the foreign oil companies operating in Bangladesh under various contracts, or could have brought in reputed international experts. If a few million dollars were spent for the purpose, it would not be a waste of money.

Through Monday's disastrous incident, it has been proven that the energy ministry did not have the wisdom to seriously listen to experts' warnings. This blasé attitude is now costing the nation a fortune through the daily loss of gas at the rate of 15 to 18 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).

The Titas field produces 400 mmcfd of gas while the country's total demand is for 1500 mmcfd. Discovered in the early sixties of the last century by Shell Oil, Titas was estimated to have a gas reserve of 5.12 trillion cubic feet (tcf), after four decades which now has 2.78 tcf.