这项新的五年期协议于 2022 年 12 月 23 日开始，继承了1997 年 12 月签署的开发和生产共享协议。根据新协议，Cosmo E&P 和 Sojitz 拥有的 QPD 将继续担任油田。

能源事务国务部长兼卡塔尔能源公司总裁兼首席执行官萨阿德·谢里达·卡比 (Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi)就此发表评论说：“我们很高兴继续与卡塔尔石油开发公司（日本）合作，并共同努力，继续Al-Karkara 和 A-Structures 油田的开发和生产。”

Al-Kaabi 补充道，“我们期待与 QPD 未来五年的合作，他们的成功努力释放了这些相对较小领域的能力，并为我们的合作伙伴关系增加了价值。”

Al-Karkara 和 A-Structures 是位于多哈以东约 90 公里处的近海油田，由三个小油田组成：1988 年发现的 Al-Karkara 油田和 A-Structures（A-North 和 A-South） ，于 1971 年发现。这些油田最初被认为是非商业性的，直到 QPD 在 20 世纪 90 年代末设法证明其商业可行性。这些油田于 2006 年 3 月开始生产，至今已累计生产原油 3350 万桶。

Al-Karkara 和 A-Structures 是卡塔尔第一批通过将多余的酸性气体重新注入地下实现天然气零燃烧的油田。

This new five-year agreement, which commenced on 23 December 2022, 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 this occasion, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and 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.”

Al-Kaabi added, “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.”

Al-Karkara and A-Structures are offshore fields located about 90 kms 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 33.5 mn 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.