QatarEnergy and Japan’s Qatar Petroleum Development Company (QPD) have signed a new agreement for the continued development and production of the Al-Karkara and A-Structures oil fields, located in the territorial waters of Qatar.
The new five-year agreement, which commences on December 23 succeeds the development and production sharing agreement signed in December 1997.
Under the new agreement, QPD, which is owned by Cosmo E&P and Sojitz, will continue to act as the operator of the oil fields.
Commenting on the occasion, HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi, also the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Qatar Petroleum Development Company (Japan) and to work together to continue the development and production of the Al-Karkara and A-Structures fields.”
Minister al-Kaabi added, “We look forward to the next five years of co-operation with QPD, whose successful efforts have unlocked the capabilities of these relatively small fields and added value to our partnership.”
Al-Karkara and A-Structures are offshore fields located about 90km to the east of Doha and consist of three small fields: Al-Karkara, which was discovered in 1988, and the A-Structures (A-North and A-South), which were discovered in 1971.
The fields were initially considered non-commercial until QPD managed to prove their commercial viability in the late 1990s.
The fields started production in March 2006, and since then have produced a total of 33.5mn barrels of crude oil.
Al-Karkara and A-Structures are the first fields in Qatar to achieve zero gas flaring by re-injecting the excess sour gas underground.