Under the terms of the five-year agreement, QPD, which is owned by Cosmo E&P and Sojitz, will continue to operate two oil fields in Qatar.

QatarEnergy has signed an agreement with Japan’s Qatar Petroleum Development Company (QPD) for extending the development and production of Al-Karkara and A-Structures offshore oilfields.

The new agreement, which takes effect on December 23, replaces the December 1997 development and production sharing agreement, Qatar Energy announced on Friday.

“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,” the statement read.

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.

QatarEnergy added that the fields were initially thought to be non-commercial until QPD demonstrated their commercial viability in the late 1990s.

QPD has been expanding and producing crude oil in the fields off the coast of Qatar since the current agreement was made in 1997.

25% of QPD is owned by the trading company Sojitz Corp., and 75% is owned by Cosmo Energy Exploration & Production.

The offshore fields started producing in March 2006 and have since produced a total of 33.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to QatarEnergy.

Cosmo produced 45,157 barrels of oil per day in the fiscal year that ended in March 2022, according to a company spokesman.

QatarEnergy chief executive Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said the two players would continue to progress the further development of the offshore asset.

“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,” Al Kaabi said.