Dhaka: The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports on Tuesday demanded that the government realise compensation from US company Chevron for the damage it caused to three gas fields through excessive production before allowing it to wind up its business in the country.

The committee also urged the government to take over the assets of Chevron and give it to a national body to operate the three gas fields -- Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar.

National Committee convener Engineer Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah and its member secretary Prof Anu Muhammad made the demand in a joint statement.

The demand came against the backdrop of Chevron's sale of its Bangladesh assets to a Chinese consortium -- Himalayan Energy.

The two leaders alleged that the government had provided Chevron with many undue facilities to operate its gas fields. Cashing in on these facilities, the Chevron made extra profit through excessive gas production which ultimately caused a major damage to those fields.

Now, it is leaving Bangladesh selling out its business to a Chinese firm, they said.

The statement mentioned that while taking over assets in Bangladesh, Chevron refused to take up the responsibilities of the Magurchhara blowout incident which damaged about 250 billion cubic feet of gas (bcf). But the government did not take any measure to settle the case with Chevron, they siad.

"The financial loss due to the damage of gas was higher than the investment of Chevron in Bangladesh," said the National Committee.