<div> </div><div>UK's BP plc has relinquished or surrendered 9 out of the 21 oil and gas blocks where it had bought 30 per cent stake from Reliance Industries for $7.2 billion, due to poor hydrocarbon prospects.</div><div> </div><div>BP had last year bought 30 per cent stake in a total of 23 oil and gas blocks of RIL including the gas discovery areas of KG-D6 and NEC-25. The Cabinet had however approved of BP taking stake in 21.</div><div> </div><div>Sources said that after initial assessment, RIL-BP have given up 9 out of the 21 blocks their joint venture had.</div><div> </div><div>The joint venture is currently focused on reviving the flagging eastern offshore KG-D6 fields and bringing the Mahanadi basin NEC-25 discoveries to production.</div><div> </div><div>Declining to comment on the relinquishment, BP India head Sashi Mukundan said, "We want to focus on quickly increasing production and finding more oil and gas".</div><div> </div><div>He said output from the main Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas fields in KG-D6 block would increase in 2015 after the joint venture puts up additional gas compression facilities and revives some of the six closed wells.</div><div> </div><div>D1&D3 fields have seen output fall from 53-54 million standard cubic meters per day achieved in March 2010 to 21-22 mmscmd currently as one-third of the wells ceased due to high water and sand ingress. Together with 5.5-6 mmscmd of output from MA field in the same area, the KG-D6 is currently 26.5-27 mmsmcd.</div><div> </div><div>"We are still hopeful of increasing production from D1&D3 by 2015," he said, adding that satellite fields around the main producing areas would be put on producing beginning 2016.</div><div> </div><div>Besides D1&D3 and MA, KG-D6 has 16 more gas discoveries".</div><div> </div><div>Mukundan said RIL-BP is working on sequencing the gas discoveries towards raising production.<br /><br />(PTI)</div>
