Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) has signed a shareholder agreement with two companies to build a carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub in Saudi Arabia with an initial capacity of nine million metric tons per annum (MMtpa).
Aramco will own a 60 percent stake in the project intended to help the state-owned oil giant achieve net-zero emissions. Industrial gases and engineering company Linde PLC and energy technology company SLB will take 20 percent each, Aramco said in a statement Wednesday.
To be developed in phases, the project “is expected to become one of the largest globally”, said the statement on Aramco’s website. Expected to be completed 2027, phase 1 will capture nine MMtpa of carbon dioxide (CO2) from three Aramco gas plants and other industrial sources.
Captured emissions will be transported via a pipeline network and stored underground in a saline aquifer sink, “leveraging the Kingdom’s significant geological potential for CO2 storage”, Aramco said. The project is located in Jubail, a city on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
The CCS hub “supports Aramco’s ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across its wholly-owned operated assets by 2050, and its interim target of reducing Upstream carbon intensity by 15 percent by 2035”, the company said.
It “also complements the Company’s blue hydrogen and ammonia program”, Aramco said.
Announced at the Saudi Green Initiative Forum in Riyadh, the project “reflects a circular carbon economy approach to reducing emissions that will contribute to the Kingdom’s 2060 net-zero target”, Aramco said.
Linde will bring its “innovative technology and experience in delivering world-scale decarbonization projects”, said Oliver Pfann, Linde executive vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
SLB New Energy President Gavin Rennick said, “Leveraging our proven portfolio of CCS technologies and extensive experience in complex CCS projects around the world, we are confident that SLB will play a critical role in advancing this important initiative”.
In another potential joint venture, Aramco, Saudi Investment Recycling Co. and TotalEnergies SE agreed to explore building a sustainable aviation fuels plant in Saudi Arabia.
“The assessment will focus on harnessing innovative engineering and technology solutions that seek to recycle and process local waste or residues from the circular economy (used cooking oils and animal fats) to produce SAF”, Aramco said in a press release Tuesday.
Aramco president and chief executive Amin H. Nasser said, “As Saudi Arabia’s tourism and aviation sectors expand, this could potentially benefit both domestic and international airlines”.
The Joint Development and Cost Sharing Agreement was signed during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the kingdom.
Source:By Jov Onsat from rigzone.com