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Gulf invests to cut carbon

29 October 2023

This report on carbon capture also includes: 

> Bright outlook for carbon capture investment
> Oil and gas faces pressing need to decarbonise

 

In line with national net-zero emissions pledges, and with their carbon-capture targets set, state oil and gas producers in the GCC are pushing projects from the planning phase into execution.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has doubled its target of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its operations to 10 million tonnes a year (t/y) by 2030. 

In January, Adnoc Group allocated a budget of $15bn for projects to decarbonise its operations. These schemes will include investments in clean power and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

A key project included in this budget allocation is the Habshan CCUS scheme. In early September, Adnoc achieved financial close on the project, which involves developing a facility at its Habshan gas processing complex in Abu Dhabi that will have the capacity to capture and permanently store 1.5 million t/y of CO2.

The project will be built, operated and maintained by Adnoc Gas and is expected to be commissioned in 2026. Adnoc Gas has awarded UK-headquartered Petrofac the $615m contract for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the project.

Adnoc Group is also making progress with other similar CCUS projects, particularly targeting emissions from its onshore field operations and gas processing plants.

Aramco’s CCS drive

Saudi Aramco’s project to develop a large-scale carbon capture and storage infrastructure that will tap CO2 discharge from its gas processing plants is also advancing. 

Aramco released the main EPC tender for the first phase of the Accelerated Carbon Capture & Sequestration (ACCS) project earlier in the year.

Aramco has brought on board US oil field services provider SLB and Germany-headquartered Linde as partners for the project’s initial phase. The second-phase partners are US-headquartered Air Products and oil field services provider Baker Hughes.

EPC works on the first phase of the project are expected to take three years, with commercial operation scheduled for 2027. Aramco’s ACCS programme will have nine phases, with total capacity expected to reach 44 million t/y, according to industry sources.

The objective of the ACCS scheme is to capture CO2 from Aramco’s northern gas plants of Wasit, Fadhili and Khursaniyah, as well as from the operations of its subsidiary Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and Saudi industrial gases provider Air Products Qudra.

In addition to Adnoc and Aramco, QatarEnergy, Bahrain’s Bapco Energies and Omani state energy conglomerate OQ are also moving ahead with their respective CCUS projects, which are collectively worth over $2bn, according to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

While national oil companies in the Gulf have invested in CCUS schemes to decarbonise their operations, operators have allocated a significant portion of their spending in the past decade to CO2 recovery facilities. 

ALSO READ: 
> Bright outlook for carbon capture investment
> Oil and gas faces pressing need to decarbonise

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Indrajit Sen

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