Deal signed to continue development and production of two Qatari oil fields

QatarEnergy and Japan’s Qatar Petroleum Development Company (QPD) have signed a new agreement for the continued development and production of two oil fields located in Qatar’s territorial waters.

Under the five-year deal, QPD, owned by Cosmo E&P and Sojitz, will continue to act as the operator of the Al-Karkara and A-Structures oil fields.  

The new agreement, which commences on 23 December, succeeds the development and production sharing agreement signed in December 1997.

Al-Karkara and A-Structures are located about 90 kilometers to the east of Doha and consist of three small fields, including Al-Karkara, discovered in 1988, and the A-Structures (A-North and A-South), which were discovered in 1971.

The fields were initially considered non-commercial, but their commercial viability was proved in the late 1990s. The fields started production in March 2006, and have since then produced a total of 33.5 million barrels of crude oil.

According to QatarEnergy, Al-Karkara and A-Structures are the first fields in the State of Qatar to achieve zero gas flaring by re-injecting the excess sour gas underground.

“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,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

“We look forward to the next five years of cooperation with QPD, whose successful efforts have unlocked the capabilities of these relatively small fields and added value to our partnership.”

From most recent company news it is worth noting that QaterEnergy, in a consortium with France’s TotalEnergies and Malaysia’s Petronas, has been awarded an offshore exploration block in the first cycle of Brazil’s open acreage under a production sharing regime bid held in Rio de Janeiro.

Covering an area of 1,300 square kilometers, the Agua-Marinha block is located in water depths of about 2,000 meters off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in the Campos Basin. This acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2023.

The oil and gas giant this summer joined an industry initiative that aims to eliminate methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 2030.