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MUMBAI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd and its partners have relinquished an oil and gas block offIndia's east coast due to access restrictions and uncertaintyover long-term natural gas pricing, one of the company'sjoint-venture partners Hardy Oil and Gas said onWednesday.
Hardy said the decision was taken after Reliance, theoperator of the block, said land restrictions imposed by theMinistry of Defence ruled out further exploration in the areaand inhibited further investment.
Hardy also pointed to uncertainty over long-term natural gaspricing in India as one of the reasons for the decision as wellas the government-imposed gas price being lower than expected.
Reliance has a 60 percent stake in the D-3 block in theKrishna Godavari basin off India's east coast. BP Plc hasa 30 percent stake. Hardy owns the remaining 10 percent.
Reliance and BP did not immediately respond to Reuters'requests for comment.
Hardy said that the access restrictions imposed in 2012covered more than a third of the block, affecting exploration,development and production.
The partners won the exploration licence for the D-3 blockin 2005 and have spent more than $220 million so far in theexploration phase, which has produced four gas discoveries,according to the statement. (Reporting by Aman Shah in Mumbai. Editing by Jane Merriman)
