U.K. oil major BP PLC (BP) and Russia's No. 1 oil producer OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) have returned a license for the East Shmidt block at their joint Sakhalin-5 development project in Russia's Far East, the two companies said Wednesday.
The two companies concluded at the end of 2009 that further exploration at the block wasn't economically justified, after conducting more than 4,400 kilometers of seismic study, Rosneft and BP said.
"Based on collected data and analysis, the decision was taken not to proceed with exploration and to relinquish the East Shmidt license," a BP spokesman said.
The two companies gave up a license for the West Shmidt block, which is part of the Sakhalin-4 development project, when it expired in November 2008.
BP and state-controlled Rosneft are still exploring the Kaigansky-Vasuykansky blocks off Sakhalin Island. Several discoveries have been made at that block, BP said, and in 2010 the companies plan to analyze seismic data collected last year in preparation for future drilling.