India Asks RIL To Drill 11 Wells In D6

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>India's upstream regulator said on Monday it had asked Reliance Industries to drill 11 new wells by April 1, 2012, in a key block off the country's east coast where the private firm has failed to meet its gas production target.<br><br>Reliance is pumping less gas than it should from the key D6 block of Krishna-Godavari basin, the second biggest gas producer in India after Mumbai High. Reliance was supposed to drill nine wells in this fiscal year. It will now have to drill two extra wells that it had failed to drill in FY11.<br><br>Upstream Regulator S.K. Srivastava said Reliance was currently producing 48 Mmscmd gas from the D6 block, adding it would meet Reliance officials "in a week or two" to discuss the fall in gas output. On April 21, Srivastava said Reliance was producing 50 Mmscmd from the block.<br><br>The company, which has agreed a broad parternship with multinational BP on field development, said in March it wanted to work to overcome "the technical challenge involved in these complex reservoirs."<br><br>Srivastava said last month Reliance had not given a satisfactory reason for the shortfall.<br><br>(Reuters)</p>